Persona 3: From Dusk to the New Dawn
by XaetaminVaela
Summary: For ten years Hakuno Reiya has been seeing hallucinations of a sickly green, bloodstained, coffin-filled world... or so she thought. After moving to Iwatodai to live in the dorms, Reiya soon comes to realize that her "visions" are in fact reality, and that she is not the only one experiencing this "Dark Hour"
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

"Attention passengers: we sincerely apologize for any inconvience caused by the delay. The next stop is Iwatodai."

About damn time. Honestly, I didn't even _want_ to move into a dorm in the first place. I know what the old man is trying to do, but it's not like I'm just suddenly going to become some popular social butterfly who gets along with anyone and everyone she interacts with. And my train just _had_ to get delayed, didn't it! *sigh* Whatever, not like tonight can get any worse than it already is. Now where did I put that map?

...

Great, now I'm halucinating again. Every thing dyed green? Check. Random ass bloodstains everywhere? Check. Coffins in places where I swear there were people just a second ago? Check. Now I just need the creepy black slime things to start attacking me to complete the package. Better pull out by bat just in case.

May as well start walking. The longer I stand here the longer I'll have to wait to collapse onto a bed and pass out. Let's see here... the dorm is called Iwatodai Dorm - go figure - and should be somewhere in this direction. I think.

Oh goody, now I'm hearing blood-curdling screams in the distance? Hooray. I always felt something was missing from my crazy-land. Haven't seen any monsters yet, not that I'm complaining. Finally here I guess. I'd be so embarassed if this turned out to be the wrong dorm.

Why are lights on in only this building?

"Your're late."

"Gah!"


	2. Chapter I: Hallucinations

**Author's Notes:**

And thus starts my first real attempt a fan-fiction.

This first chapter doesn't have much in the way of content, and is kinda pathetically short compared to everything that comes afterward. It really just exists to introduce my OC, as well as how she perceived the strange phenomenon occurring around her. There really isn't much to say beyond that I hope you guys enjoy this story as much as I enjoy writing it.

Until we meet again, Farewell.

* * *

 **Chapter I:**

 **Hallucinations**

* * *

Reiya jumped at the sound of an unnervingly calm voice coming from her left after she'd entered the building. Behind the counter sat a young boy with his elbows propped up in the desk. He had black hair, piercing blue eyes and seemed to be wearing what looked like black and white striped pajamas.

"I've been waiting a long time for you."

"Um, okay?"

The boy snapped his fingers, and in an instant vanished only to reappear in front of Reiya causing her to jump back in shock.

"Now if you wish to proceed" he gestured over to a folder on the front desk, which seemed to open on its own accord "please sign your name there. It's a contract."

Reiya looked between the contract and the boy, concern and anxiety obviously written on her face.

"Don't worry. All it says is that you will accept full responsibility for your actions. You know, the usual stuff."

The frightened girl took a moment to compose herself before nervously walking over to examine the contract. Discovering that it was just as the boy claimed, she put down her bat and signed her name in the designated spot. _Hakuno Reiya._ She then returned the contract to the unusual boy.

"No one can escape time. It delivers us all to the same end. You cannot plug your ears and cover your eyes." As he says this he holds up the contract's folder over one of his eyes. He then passes his hand in front of his face, the contract disappearing into thin air. The room began to grow dark, the boy fading from view as though melting into the shadows. "And so, it begins."

 _-What the hell?-_

"Who's there!?"

Reiya gasped at the sound of another voice directly in front of her. Looking up, she found a girl wearing a pink cardigan and short skirt standing on the stairs heading up. But what really caught Reiya's attention was the gun holstered at her side. The new girl seemed to be panting erratically, as if in a panic, before reaching for her gun. In response, Reiya grab her bat from where she propped it up against the desk and began to lift it.

"Takeba wait!"

Both Reiya and the other girl stopped and turned towards the direction of the new voice. Another girl with red hair wearing a senior uniform stood a little ways behind the cardigan wearing girl as the lights came back on.

The red haired girl approached Reiya. "I didn't think you'd arrive so late. My name is Kirijo Mitsuru. I'm one of the students who live in this dorm"

Reiya seemed to stiffen slightly at that name, although the other two girls didn't seem to notice.

"Who's she?" asked the still nervous cardigan girl.

"A transfer student, it was a last minute decision to assign her here. She'll eventually be moved to a room in the girl's dorm."

"... Is it okay for her to be here?"

"I guess we'll see." Mitsuru then turned to address the now totally lost Reiya "This is Takeba Yukari. She'll be a junior this year like you."

"...hey"

Seeing as the situation seemed to have calmed down, Reiya lowered her bat, but still had a more immediate concern that she felt need to be adressed. Namely...

"Why do you have a gun?"

"Huh? Um, Well It's sort of like a hobby. Well not a hobby but..." Yukari quickly tried to correct herself.

"You know how it is these days... it's for self defense. It's not a real gun of course." Mitsuru cut in.

 _-She certainly seemed like she was gonna use it like a real gun-_

"It's getting late so you should get some rest. You're room is on the third floor at the end of the hallway. Your things should already be there."

Mitsuru looked over to Yukari who seemed to take it as a sort of signal.

"Oh... I'll show you the way, follow me."

* * *

Reiya POV

* * *

"This is it... pretty easy to remember remember, huh? Since it's right at the end of the hall?"

Takeba was obviously trying to lighten the mood, but I was honestly to tired to care at this point.

"Oh yeah, make sure you don't lose your key or you'll never hear the end of it. So any questions?"

 _(-Yeah, tons of them, but...-)_

"Does that kid live here too?"

"What kid? What are you talking about? C'mon, it's not funny."

I just looked at her for a couple seconds before sighing "Never mind." _(_ _-Figures he was just another hallucination.-)_

"Um, can I ask you something? Was everything okay on your way here?"

"... I guess so. Nothing I'm haven't already dealt with a hundred times before."

It's obvious my response confused her, but I had no intention of elaborating.

"Well... I guess you seem to be alright." ( _-Takeba I haven't been alright in ten years-)_ "Well... I'd better get going. I'm sure you have other questions, but let's save them for later, alright? Goodnight."

After Takeba left I entered what was apparently going to be my room for the next year or so. Just as Kirijo said, my stuff was already here, but I was too exhausted to do any unpacking. Instead I more or less took off my boots and collapsed onto my bed in my current outfit.

 _(-Why can't I just live a normal life. The only reason I'm not seeing a psychiatrist right now is because I lied about not see those hallucinations. Now though, I'm beginning to think that it was a mistake, what with my visions getting worse.-)_


	3. Chapter II: Ordinary School Life

**Author's Notes:**

This chapter is mainly dedicated to helping establish Reiya's personality. That being said, I was only able to do so much before I decided to end the chapter.

One of the things I'm really looking forward to, is showing how Reiya interacts with the world around her. I've always been fascinated by the characters in other stories because it allows me to see things from another perspective, something the Persona series does very well. Plus well, I'm kind of a sucker for all things Persona in general (I even have my own Persona style tarot deck). All in all, I like were I'm heading with this, and hope you guys enjoy it as well.

Until we meet again, Farewell.

* * *

 **Chapter II:**

 **Ordinary School Life**

* * *

Reiya Pov

* * *

I woke up to the sound of someone knocking on my door.

"It's Yukari. Are you awake?"

I honestly contemplated ignoring her going back to sleep before I realized that I still had school. So I walk over and opened the door for her.

"Good mor-phht." Whatever else she had to say was cut off after she got one good look at me and started laughing.

"*sigh* I've got bed head don't I?" That only served to get her laughing harder as I went to check on myself in the mirror. Sure enough, my pale-blonde-almost-white wavy hair was managing to defy gravity as though someone vigorously rubbed a balloon in my hair. It seriously looked like I had a messy afro or something. I could see the annoyance in my yellow-green eyes through the mirror as I pulled out a brush and tried as best I could to straighten out the bush growing on my head. Just as I was making progress ( _-why couldn't I be born with straight hair-_ ) and Takeba managed to get a hold of her self ( _-pretty sure she was going for a good five minutes straight-_ ) she finally got to the point of why she was here.

"Mitsuru-sempai asked me to take you to school. It's getting late so..."

After sighing for the umpteenth time i responded with "give me a like five minutes and I should hopefully be done". Now having finally gotten my shoulder length hair to obey physics, I walked over to my closet and pulled out my uniform, along with my jean shorts to put under my skirt.

"Alright , but don't take to long. We still gotta catch the train."

* * *

Shortly after I got myself decent (and ate my hastily put together breakfeast) Takeba and I headed out to catch the monorail that was supposed to take us to our school. That's just about when the awkwardness began to kick in. Despite the light-hearted start to this day, Takeba found out pretty quickly just how social I was. Which is to say... not at all. It was clear she still remembered last night (almost pulling a gun on someone, real or not, doesn't exactly make for a good first impression) and my general lack of responses towards anything she said likely made her all the more uncomfortable. Eventually we reach a point where she either ran out of things to say, or just stopped trying. Once on the train though, I decided I could at least _TRY_ to act polite and started asking questons of my own. It was when we got to the topic of our school that actually took an interest in the conversation.

"Wait, Kirijo Group? Does our sempai have any relation to that?"

"Yeah, Mitsuru-sempai is the only child of the current head of the Kirijo Group."

"...She must have a fair amount of influence in our school if her father owns this place. To say nothing of how big her allowance must be."

"You almost sounded jealous there for a second." She said in a teasing voice.

"I'm more worried that living with someone who MUST be pretty well known is going to attract a lot unneccesary attention towards myself."

"You really don't like having the spotlight do you?"

"Let put it this way Takeba-san, experience has taught me that more attention mean more problems. There's a damn good reason why I don't enteract with other people very often" _(-It's called "I'm pretty sure I belong in a mental health institution instead of going to high school like an ordinary SANE person!"-)_

Takeba seemed a little unsure of how to respond, but soon noticed something out the window that got her attention. "Oh! Look over there! You can see our school from here."

I did look and my jaw more or less hit the floor when I saw just how HUGE this school was. "THAT'S our school!? I mean, I knew this place was funded by a big, successful company, but..."

I trailed of when I heard Takeba give off a light laugh to my reaction. "It's not just big. It's got just about everything you'd expect from such a highly prestigious high school. There's a little something here for every one I think."

* * *

"Well, we're here."

And here I thought my jaw couldn't drop any lower. This place is even BIGGER up close.

"Welcome to Gekoukan High-School! Hope you like it."

"...How the hell am I suppose to NOT get lost in there!?"

"*giggle* You'll figure it out eventually. It took me awhile to memorize the layout of the campus myself."

"You don't understand Takeba-san! My sense of direction is practically non-exsistant! It's a miracle I managed to find our dorm as quickly as I did!"

"Wait, is that why you were so late?"

"Actually, my train got delayed but that's besides the point."

As if to add on to my misfortune, it's right around then that I noticed the shear amount of people who kept greeting Takeba. ( _-Great... so she's also popular too. And all these people have seen me walking to school with her. For crying out loud I can already hear the rumors spreading! *sigh* So much for remaining anonymous...-)_

Once we got inside, Takeba started talking again. "You're okay from here right?" No. No I'm not. "You should see your homeroom teacher first. The Faculty Office is right there to the left... and that concludes the tour. Any questions?"

After thinking it over for a moment I asked "Do you know what class you're in?"

"I dunno, I havn't looked at the classroom assignments yet." she then paused for a moment "...Hey. Don't tell anyone what you saw last night... okay? See you later"

Once she left, I started to move in the direction she pointed (and thank god she did point or who knows how long It would take for me find the Faculty Office on my own) Soon after I walked, a brunette teacher in pink seemed notice I was there. "Are you the new transfer student" I nodded. "Hakuno Reiya. Eleventh-Grade correct?" Another nod. "Wow, you've lived in a lot of places haven't you? Let's see in nineteen ninty-nine, your foster parents - *gasp*!"

I rolled my eyes at the expected reaction. "I'm so sorry, I've been so busy to read this before hand."

"It's not a problem miss, I'm use to this by now."

"A-anyways, I'm Ms. Toriumi, your homeroom teacher. I teach Composition in class 2-F. Welcome to our school."

"Nice to meet you Toriumi-Sensei."

"My, you seem rather polite." _(_ _-Only when I'm in a good mood...-)_

"Let's head over to the auditorium. The Welcoming Ceremony should be starting soon. Follow me."


	4. Chapter III: Meeting Junpei

**Author's Notes:**

This is the last of the early short chapters. From this point onward, chapters are going to be 1400 to 2000 words long.

Junpei is one of my favorite characters in the Persona franchise, so it's really no surprise that I dedicated almost an entire chapter to him. I just love how relatable the guys is. Out all the talented and... unique members of the main cast, Junpei's the average guy who just tries to come off as funny and carefree. Sure he has his flaws, but that just makes him that much more memorable

Until we meet again, Farewell.

* * *

 **Chapter III:**

 **Meeting Junpei**

* * *

Reiya pov

* * *

"As you begin the new school year..." I started falling asleep the moment the principal started his speech. I was just about to nod off when a student behind me tapped my shoulder.

"Psst... hey. You came to school with Takeba-san this morning right? I saw you two walking together." I pretty much knew were this conversation was going from the moment he mentioned Takeba. "Hey, I have a question. Do you know if she has a boyfriend?"

"How the hell would I know? I only met her last night." That might have come out a little more harshly than I intended.

"Oh uh... sorry. I thought you might've been good friends or something..." He trailed off when he noticed the withering look on my face.

It didn't take more than two seconds after he finished before a teacher spoke up. "I hear talking. I think it might be someone in Ms. Toriumi's class."

"Be quiet. You're going to get me in trouble." She says that, but were hardly the only ones talking. I seriously doubted anyone was actually listening to the speech at this point.

After the speech we all went to our respective home-rooms. Naturally, being the new kid meant that I had to introduce myself to the class. _Fun._

"As you all may know" our sensei began "We have a new transfer student today. Why don't you introduce your self."

"My name is Hakuno Reiya. Nice to meet you all..." I said without an ounce enthusiasm in my voice. Immediatly after I finished my introduction, I could hear the class murmuring amongst them selves. I tuned them out and simply walked to my seat once Toriumi-sensei showed me where it is.

Class wasn't anything special. Since it was the first day, there weren't any assignments and sensei spent the whole time telling us what to expect for the upcoming year. Once we were dismissed I had every intention of going back to the dorm to unpack, but barely got out of my seat before some guy wearing a baseball cap walked up to me.

"'Sup dude!? How's it going?"

"...Who are you?" I responded with the most deadpan look I could mannage.

"Me? I'm Iori Junpei. Nice to meet you!" I don't think he got the message. "I transfered hera back in the eight grade. I know how tough it is to be the new kid, so I thought I'd say 'Hey'. See what a nice guy I am."

As if on que, Takeba walked up to us at that exact moment. "Hey, it's Yuka-tan! I didn't think we'd be in the same class again."

Takeba let out an exasperated sigh before saying "At it again, huh? Honestly, is there any girl you wouldn't hit on? Did you ever think you might be bothering someone?"

"What!? But I was just bein' friendly!"

"If you say so..." she turned to face me "Anyway, looks like we're in the same home room. Some coincidence, huh?"

"I guess so."

"Uh, helloooooo. Did you forget I'm in the same classroom too? C'mon, let me in on the fun!" his expression changed "By the way, do you two know each other? I heard you came to school together this morning. A couple of cuties like yo-"

I decided to interupt before he could finish that train of thought "We met last night when I moved into her dorm. She was showing me the way to school this morning."

"Wha-man you really know how to kill a guy's mood, y'know that."

Takeba apparently found that amusing, judging from the grin on her face. "Well, I've gotta be going. Got some archery team stuff to deal with. Don't try anything funny, got that Junpei?"

As soon as Takeba was out of sight, Iori started up again. "Man, what is she? Your nanny or something? Well, just to clear something up, I didn't actually come over just to hit on you or anything."

"Which is probably a good thing in all honesty. I have a tendency to hurt people who annoy me to much."

"Hey, do really find me to be that annoying?"

I sigh "Not really, no." I admited "I'm more or less in a bad mood because of what happened last night."

"What happened last night? I-I mean... if you don't mind me asking."

"My train got delayed. I didn't make to the dorm until after midnight." _(_ _-There's a hell of a lot more to it than that, but..._ - _)_

"Man, sounds like you could use something to lift your spirits. I know this awesome ramen shop if you're interested!"

I considered it for a moment "...Thanks for the offer, but I was planning on returning to the as soon as classes ended. I didn't get any unpacking done, and the longer I wait, the less I'm gonna want to do it. Maybe tomorow if I'm in a better mood."

"Hey, not a problem! Just say the word and I'll even pay for your meal too!"

"...You sure you're not trying to hit on me?"

* * *

Once I walked into the dorm, I heard Kirijo-sempai greeting me.

"Welcome back."

"Hey, you probably won't be seeing me for the rest of the night. I was so exhausted last night I didn't get any unpacking done."

"That's quite all right. You should probably get an early night's rest. With everything you must have to adjust to, I can only imagine how you must feel."

"...I'll keep that in mind." _(_ - _Why do I get the feeling that's not the real reason she wants me to go to sleep-_ )

And so I signed my name on the sign-in sheet on the front desk and departed for my room. Now let it never be said that I'm a hoarder. I buy a lot of things, but most of these things I make good use of. That being said, I wasn't even five minutes in before I started regretting not leaving some of this stuff behind. By the time I was done, the sun was setting and my room still looked like a mess because I hadn't gotten around to organizing any of it yet. Deciding to put that off until later, I made myself some dinner (with what little was available) took a shower, got in my nightgown and passed out for the night.


	5. Chapter IV: Velvet Blue

**Author's Notes:**

The plot finally begins to move. The appearance of the Velvet room is always a major event in any Persona related media. It's a sign that the protagonist's journey is just about to begin.

The next chapter is when things really kick into high gear, so prepare for a slight change in pace.

Until we meet again, Farewell.

* * *

 **Chapter IV**

 **Velvet Blue**

* * *

Reiya POV

* * *

After classes ended the next day, I decided to take Iori up on his offer. I figured that maybe if I made some friends before the rumors of my past caught up, I might find someone I can tolerate for more than a few minutes. It didn't take long before we showed up at the local Hagakure.

"We'll order two specials please!" I blinked in surprise to Iori's order.

"Specials? I was expecting the normal stuff. Y'know, with you paying for my share and all. Not that I'm complaining." _(_ _-I think I'm gonna like this guy-)_

"Heh, you've never had the true Hagakure experience until you've tasted one of their specials!"

"In that case I'll be sure to savor every last bite."

It didn't take long before our food was brought to the table - and holy crap that's a big bowl. Iori apparently felt the need to encourage me (not that I needed any encouragement).

"Well, c'mon! Dig in already."

I took a couple of slow bites. Then I stared at my bowl for a few seconds. Then I started wolfing down as much of it as fast as I could without choking.

Judging on Iori's expression, he was pretty impressed at how I'd managed to down the whole thing in less than two minutes.

"Man, I don't think I've ever seen any girl put down that much food so quickly. Or any guy for that matter."

"I have a big appetite." was my only explanation.

The rest of the time we hung out together was spent exchanging idle banter while I waited for the guy to finish his bowl (He finished his only marginally slower than I did. I think he just didn't want to be out done by a girl.) We went our separate ways shortly after, but I couldn't help but think to myself _(_ _-Maybe I should give this socializing thing a try. Especially if I can eat like that for free more often-)_

Things however, got weird almost the instant I stepped into the dorm. "Oh, she's back." Not because of Takeba's response to my return. No, it was my response to the person next to her. "So, this is our new guest."

The moment he spoke up I felt my body tense up. It only got worse once I turn around and saw them approaching me. The new guy seemed to be a brown-haired, bearded middle-aged man wearing a brown suit and dress pants, and glasses.

"Good evening," every second I was around this guy it felt like my skin was crawling. And the strangest thing was, I had no idea why I felt that way. "My name is Ikutsuki Shuji, the Chairman of the Board for your school. 'Ikutuski'... hard to say, isn't it?" He chuckled at that for some reason. "That's why I don't like introducing myself. Even I get tongue-tied sometimes."

 _-What kind of idiot has trouble pronouncing his own name-_

"Please, have a seat." I did as he asked, sitting down next to Takeba on the sofa. "I sincerely apologize about the confusion regarding your accommodations. However, it may take a while longer before you receive the proper room assignment."

"About that," I began, still not comfortable around the guy "why do I have to move out anyway?"

"Ah, this dorm is meant for the use a specific club. Having someone live here who isn't a member of the club could cause trouble for the other club members."

 _-What kind of club is it then?-_

"Any other questions?"

"Why are _you_ here?" I said, unintentionally adding venom to that word.

"To welcome you of course" If Ikutsuki noticed, it didn't faze him. "To be honest though, I do have other business here. Speaking of which..." he turned to Takeba "Where's Mitsuru, Yukari?"

"She's upstairs."

"As diligent as always, although it wouldn't hurt to come and say hello." he turned back to me "Anything else?"

"Does anyone else live here?"

"I believe that you've met most of the residents of this dorm. Obviously, there's you, Mitsuru, and Yukari. That only leaves a senior by name of Sanada Akihiko. Now then, unless you've got any other questions, I must be go and see Mitsuru. I'm a very busy man, you see. I hope you have a successful school year." As he reached the stairs he turned around. "You should get some early rest. You must be tired from all the excitement. And as they say 'the early bird catches the bookworm!' ...Please forgive the pun." He said while chuckling lightly.

I nearly felt like retching at how bad that joke was. One look at Takeba told me she was of similar opinion.

"*sigh* You'll get use to his lame jokes eventually."

"I don't WANT to get us to jokes that bad." I said, feeling infinitely better now that Ikutsuki was gone.

"...Hey are you okay? You seemed kind of... uncomfortable there."

"...I don't know. It's like the moment I noticed him I got really anxious. It's weird. I mean it's not like I've ever met the guy."

"Maybe it's just the stress from having to adapt to a new environment? I mean, you did just move into a new dorm, and you're going to a new school on top of that."

"I don't think so, I didn't feel that way until I met Ikutsuki-san, and once he left I felt better almost immediately."

"...Maybe you should just get some rest like he suggested..."

I yawned as she trailed off. "Yeah, sleep sounds good. I never thought actually trying to hold a conversation with someone all day could be so exhausting."

Takeba giggled at my reaction. "Well, I guess this is good night then. I'll see you in the morning, okay?"

"mng" was my unintelligible response.

* * *

 _A white and black checkerboard-patterned floor rushed by. A blue door closing in by the second. It opens to reveal-_

 _(_ -Where _am I?-)_

The last thing I could remember was going to bed early... is this a dream?

I examined my surroundings. It looked like I was in a large room, made out of what I assumed was blue velvet. Upon closer inspection, the room seemed to be ascending at a rapid pace. _(_ _-...An elevator?-)_ Looking up, I could see a large clock mounted on what seemed to be a large gate. In the center of the room stood a round table and sofa, and seated in the sofa was...

(-HOLY _\- that is the single longest nose I have ever seen!-)_ The nose in question belonged to a balding old man with blood-shot eyes, and a maniacal grin. To his left was a young woman in a blue bellhop dress, with piercing pale-golden eyes and silver hair, a large book under her left arm.

"Welcome to the Velvet Room my dear young lass. My name... is Igor. I am delighted to make your acquaintance." He gestured to the woman next to him. "This is Elizabeth. She's a resident here, like myself."

"Pleased to meet you"

"This place exists between dream and reality, mind and matter... it has been many years since last had a guest." With a sweeping motion of his arm, an envelope opened up on the table. I immediately recognized it's contents as the contract that boy had me sign on the day I arrived at the dorm. "Only those who have signed the contract, can enter this place. Henceforth, you shall be welcome here in the Velvet Room."

By this point my head was spinning with how fast things were moving. "Wait... Who... How?"

"Patience my dear guest. All will be explained in due time." I don't know why I felt like I should trust him, but I did.

"You are destined to hone your unique ability, and will require my help to do so. I only ask one thing in return... that you abide by the contract, and accept responsibility for your actions."

"I... don't understand. Velvet Room... unique ability? Is this all a dream?"

"Precisely, we have called you here in your dream. But our together time grows short, so please, hold onto this."

Something shined in the middle of the room. When I reached out and grabbed it, it discovered it was a key.

"'Til we meet again."

"W-wait I still-"


	6. Chapter V: Per-so-na

**Author's Notes:**

Experimenting with perspectives. Don't expect to many perspective switches throughout the story. Unless the chapter is directly related to a character, or Reiya's perspective just isn't enough to convey what's going on, the story will be told primarily from her point of view.

Also, I'm finally giving you guys a glimpse of Reiya's Persona. While I realize that Pandora was the name of a boss in a previous Persona game, I felt that having her be Reiya's Persona was only fitting. Plus, this Pandora and the one from the first game have nothing in common besides namesake, so there's that.

Until we meet again, Farewell.

* * *

 **Chapter V**

 **Per-so-na**

* * *

Reiya POV

* * *

I woke up with a start. _(_ _-What the hell kinda dream was that?-)_ It was at that moment that my alarm decided to go off. _(_ _-...Whatever, it was just a dream. Need to get... ready... for school... anyway-)_ My thoughts trailed off, once I realized there was something sitting on my desk next to my alarm clock. It was a blue key. _(_ _-...Either my dreams and halucinations are gaining continuity, or that was more then just some wierd dream. I'm honestly not sure which is more plausible at this point, and it scares me.-)_

School was unevenful, aside from saving Iori from embarassing himself when he couldn't answer a question. I spent my time after school exploring the city (and keeping my GPS on my phone active so I didn't get lost). On my way back to the dorm however, is where things got interesting.

"Shit. Didn't realize it was so late." The sun was already setting at this point. "Better hurry up. Don't know when curfew is, but better not risk it." I pulled out my phone and punched Iwatodai Dorms into the GPS function. Once I knew where to go, I all but started sprinting back... only to immediately bump into someone around the corner and fall on my ass.

"Ow... sorry I'm-" Anything I might have said was cut off as I realized the guy I bumped into was tall. Like, nearly twice as tall as I was. It didn't help that his atire consisted of a huge maroon pea-coat, black pants, and a beanie that cast a shadow over his eyes. Now, never let it be said that I get intimidated easily. If I feel like I'm in danger, I won't hesitate to swing first. But the moment I looked up at this guy, I felt something odd. Like some sort of survival instinct screaming at me to get the hell away from him.

"...You should watch where you're running." He said, causing me to (embarrassingly) squeak in surprise.

"Um..." My abillity to form coherent thoughts didn't seem to want to cooperate.

"You shouldn't be out here so late. Hurry up and run home before it gets too late.

"?" Okay, now that's not what I was expecting him to say. But not wanting to potentially piss the beanie guy off, I quickly picked up the phone I dropped and scrambled to my feet. Only...

"Huh!? The screens busted! How am I supposed to find my way back now!?"

"You don't know how to get back to where you live?"

"In my defense," I began, finally getting over my fear of this guy even if I still felt that odd sensation around him. "I've been in this town for all of three days! That and... well I kinda... have a shitty sense of direction..." My face felt like it started to heat up as I finished that statement.

Beanie guy just sighed before responding. "Where do you live, I'll show you the way if I can."

"? I currently live at the Iwatodai Dorms. I'm a new transfer student." I explained. Beanie guy got an wierd look on his face when I mentioned the dorms.

"That place, huh? C'mon, I know exactly where it's at." He seemed none too pleased to be heading there for some reason.

"Um... okay." _(_ _-When did I become such a wimp. C'mon Reiya! You've kicked the hell out of plenty of guys who looked like this. What makes this one so different from the rest? -)_ The fact that I couldn't answer my own questions made me even more scared of beanie guy.

We got to the dorm just after the sun set. Beanie guy walked off with out a word as soon as we arrived at the front door. As curious as I was as to his possible history with this place, I wasn't about to ask.

"Welcome back."

"Oh, hey sempai."

I opened the door only to be greeted by Kirijo-Sempai

"You certainly returned late. Did something happen?"

"Nothing really. Just got lost and had to have someone show me the way back."

"I see. Well, if you haven't got any homework assignments to work on, might I suggest you take an early night's rest."

"...Okay, that's the third day in a row that someone's suggested that to me."

"We are merely concerned for your welfare. There must be so much you have to adjust to as a result of only recently moving here."

"Thanks for the concern, but I'm fine. This is hardly the worst thing I've ever had to experience in my life." Not that I'm gonna be particularly open about that topic if anyone asked.

"Very well then."

* * *

Yukari POV

* * *

"So how is she." The Chairmen asked. We were currently sitting in the command room, watching Hakuno-san sleep on the screen. Her heartbeat, brainwaves and other similar things were being monitored.

"...The same as last night." Mitsuru-sempai responded

The Chairmen turned and sat down in one of the stools behind us. "Hmm... very interesting. Even those who have the potential tend to be a little unstable at first... memory loss... disorientation." Sempai and I turned away from the screen to face him. "But, this subject is rather unique. She hasn't displayed any of the common symptoms from experiencing the Dark Hour."

I lowered my head in shame. "But, we're treating her like a guinea pig."

"I understand your concern. But, it's imperative that we recruit new members... besides I heard that she's your classmate. Wouldn't you be more comfortable, working with someone of the same grade?"

"Yeah, I guess, but still..." That was when a high-pitched tone came from the console. Mitsuru-sempai pushed a button and responded.

"Command room. Is that you Akihiko?"

Sanada-sempai's voice came through the console. "You're not going to believe this! This thing is huge! Unfortunately I don't have time to talk... it's chasing me. I wanted to let you guys know... I almost there."

I felt my blood run cold. "Wait, so does that mean he's bringing that thing HERE!?"

"Mr. Chairmen, let's suspend our observation for now. We must prepare for battle!"

"R-right, please be careful!"

We all rushed downstairs only to see an injured Sanada-sempai stumble in through the front door.

"Akihiko!"

I touched Sempai's arm and her recoiled in pain.

"Sempai!"

"I'm alright... but get ready to be surprised! It'll be here any second now!"

Mitsuru-sempai glared at him "This is no time to be joking around!"

The chairmen spoke up. "Is it one of them, Akihiko?"

"...Yeah, but it's not a normal one-" That's when the entire building shook.

"What the-!? You've gotta be kidding me!"

Mitsuru-sempai pulled out her evoker. "Mr. Chairmen, please return to the command room! Takeba, go up stairs and wake her up! Then, escape out the back."

"But, what about you two?"

"We'll stop it here." She turned to face Sanada-sempai "You brought it here, so I'm afraid you'll have to fight."

"Like I had a choice!" He then looked towards me "What are you waiting for Takeba!? GO!"

"I-I'm going!"

* * *

Reiya POV

* * *

I shot out of the bed once the dorm started shaking. I could hear some shouting downstairs. Picking up my baseball bat, I left my room and started down the stairs, still wearing my nightgown. Just as I reached them, an out-of-breath Takeba showed up at their top.

"Takeba? What's-"

"I don't have time to explain! We have to get out of here, NOW!"

Then the dorm shook again.

"The hell!? What's going on!?"

"Hurry, downstairs! We'll leave through the back door!"

"Uh, right..." Having had no idea what was happening, I decided to trust that Takeba knew what she was doing. Once we got to the back door however, Takeba put her hand to the earpiece I had just realize she had. She seemed to respond to whatever she heard on the other end.

"Y-yes! I hear you!"

What ever was said next made her go pale.

"What!?"

As if on queue, a loud banging came from the back door. Takeba and I both took a step back when it looked like the door was about to be torn from its hinges.

"L-let's pull back!" Takeba grabbed my arm and started dragging me back upstairs.

"Hold on a minute! What the hell is going on!?"

"We'll explain later! Right now, we just need to get you to safety!"

 _(_ -Safety!? _Safety from what!?-)_

After we cleared the first flight of stairs, there was a loud crash coming from downstairs.

"What are we going to do...? They've gotten inside... do we have any choice but to go up?"

Once we hit the third floor, the building shook again, this time more intensely than before. Takeba and I stumbled, trying to regain our footing before we charged up the next flight of stairs. The sound of glass shattering caused Takeba to pause.

"Wh-what was that!?" I could here the sound of something approaching us. "It's getting closer! Keep moving! Hurry!"

At the top of the stairs was the roof access. We burst through the door and Takeba locked it behind us, sighing in relief.

"I think we're okay for now."

As if to spite her, the building began shaking repeatedly, accompanied by the sound of something getting closer behind us. We slowly turned around, and what we saw made us gasp in shock. A huge black hand reached over and grabbed the ledge of the roof. Several more followed suit. One last hand, this one carrying a blue mask with a roman numeral I reached over, turning the mask as if it were searching for something. Half of the hands seemed to produce knives out of thin air, and the creature pulled itself up over the ledge, revealing its body to be nothing more THAN a mass of arms.

"No way, It climbed up the side of the building!?" Takeba shouted in shock. She tried to compose herself as the creature approached. "Those monsters, we call them Shadows." She explained. I was shocked. Not because we were being attack by some abomination. But because Takeba was experiencing the same thing I was. For so many years, I thought this was some sort of messed up halucination. Could everything have been reality this whole time? Before I had time to ponder however, Takeba pulled out her gun... and pointed it at her head.

"Wha- What are you doing!?" I screamed.

"It's okay... I can do this..." She seemed to be trying to reassure herself more than me. But before she could pull the trigger, the monster swatted her asside with one of its hands. "Takeaba!" She landed near the ledge of the roof, unmoving. I started to run towards her when it happened. My vision went white. The only thing present, was that boy I saw the night I arrived.

"Go on." He said, miming putting a gun to his head. My vision returned, but everything seemed to move in slowmotion. I looked down and there was Takeba's gun, sitting in a puddle of blood. I walked over, not caring that I was getting blood on my bare hands and feet as I lifted the gun off of the ground and pressed it against my temple. I heard the boys voice again. "You can do it."

My breathing was heavy.

"Per..."

I began to squeeze the trigger.

"so...

A word found it's way to my mouth.

"na...!"

I grinned, pulling the trigger. The sound of glass shattering filled the air. The sensation of something within me being release caused my grin to grow larger. A feminine voice echoed, as a figure began to take shape behind me.

 **I AM THOU**

 **AND THOU ART I**

 **FROM THE SEA OF THINE SOUL I COMETH**

 **I AM PANDORA**

 **BRINGER OF MISFORTUNE**


	7. Chapter VI: Dark Hour

**Author's Notes:**

The first fight of the story! This is a moment I look forward to in every Persona 3 fan-fiction. So naturally, I had a lot of fun writing my own rendition of the fight.

There are a LOT of things going on at once during this scene, hence why there are so many POV changes. Things will begin to settle down a little bit after this, but now that we've gotten this far, the plot should move a lot faster.

Until we meet again, Farewell.

* * *

 **Chapter VI**

 **Dark Hour**

* * *

Mitsuru POV

* * *

"There! They're on the roof!" Exclaimed Akihiko. We watched as Takeba was incapacitated by the shadow. Nodding at one another, Akihiko and I stood and turned to aid them when the chairman stopped us.

"Wait!"

"Mr. Chairman, surly you don't - "

"Look." Was all he said, gesturing towards the screen. I looked on as Hakuno picked up Takeba's evoker. As if possessed, she slowly raised it towards her head, and squeezed the trigger.

"Per.. so.. na..!

 **I AM THOU**

 **AND THOU ART I**

 **FROM THE SEA OF THINE SOUL I COMETH**

 **I AM PANDORA**

 **BRINGER OF MISFORTUNE**

"...It's just as we suspected." I said.

A Persona.

* * *

Reiya POV

* * *

I didn't have to look to know what the figure behind me looked like. I just knew, as if the knowledge had been there all along, waiting for the right time to reveal its self.

Pandora. She had the appearance of a young Greek woman, dressed in an ornately decorated silver tunic. Her brown hair was long and flowing, and a crown sat on top of her head, and a veil covered her eyes. Her feet were covered in sandals which climbed up just above her knees. In her hands was a metal box, sealed shut with chains and a vault-like valve. The chains attached the box to her wrists with a pair of heavy-looking manacles.

I felt amazing. From the moment I pulled the trigger, I felt this euphoric sense of releasing something significant that had been locked away for a long time. But that feeling didn't last.

"Ghh!?" I clutched my head as a sharp pain began to form. "ghaaaaaAAAAAA!" I screamed as the pain intensified into sheer agony. A threw my head back, as Pandora began to writhe about. It wasn't long before two large white gloved arms reached out from where her head should have been and ripped her apart from the inside. In her place was a monster, large, black and with an impossible array of coffins chained to it's shoulders, while floating a little ways away like a set of wings. It's "face" looked like a metal skull-like mask, with a hinge connecting the jaw to the upper half.

* * *

Mitsuru POV

* * *

I gasped in surprise when that - _Thing_ \- burst out of Hakuno's Persona.

"What on earth is that!?" Akihiko exclaimed beside me. Even the chairman seemed to be at a loss for words. We all watched, unsure of what to expect next.

* * *

Reiya POV

* * *

The coffin creature roared, pulling out a large, single-edged sword, and charged at the Shadow. In response, the Shadow's arms stretched and lunged towards the masked monster, attempting to impale it with the Shadow's many blades. The blades just bounce of the creature's body, as the creature swung it's sword, severing many of the arms supporting the Shadow. The creature followed up by grabbing the hand holding the Shadow's mask, and cleaved the mask in half.

The Shadow dissolved, with the creature still holding on to the hand that held the mask, panting like some wild beast. It crushed the hand, and it too dissolved with the rest of the Shadow. With one final roar, the air shimmered, and in the creature's place stood Pandora, before she too disappeared in a gentle blue light.

* * *

Mitsuru POV

* * *

The "battle" was ended almost as abruptly as that things appearance. After regaining my composure, I turned to face Akihiko.

"Let's go. They may require our aid."

"R-right." He answered back, obviously still in shock at what happened.

* * *

Reiya POV

* * *

I stood there, breathing heavily and trying to settle my nerves when I heard Takeba's voice of to the side.

"Is it over?" I heard the sound of liquid moving, and looked up, only to find that parts of the Shadow that hadn't dissolved rose back up, gaining a life of their own. I sighed, then lifted my bat and charged the new Shadows. The first one I came up upon tried to swipe at me but I jumped back before bringing my bat down on it's mask, shattering it. The one down, the others quickly took notice, and began to swarm me. I raised the gun that was still in my hands to my head, and pulled the trigger. Out came Pandora, swinging her box down like a flail, and onto an unsuspecting Shadow's head. She the swung it to the side, before jerking back in a sweeping motion, causing the box to scrape along the ground, sparks flying. Any unfortunate Shadows that got in the way were smash into a viscous pulp, but one got in a lucky swipe, which caused Pandora to disappear. I clutched my head in pain, but powered through long enough to run up to the remaining Shadow, and destroy its mask with an upward swing of my bat.

With all the Shadow's gone, I lowered my hands, dropping the gun and bat in the process. The last thing I remember before blacking out, was the ground rushing to meet my face...

* * *

Yukari POV

* * *

My eyes widened when Hakuno-san collapsed. "H-hey! Are you okay?" I rushed over, and began to shake her. "Come on...! Say something!" She wasn't moving. I could hear footsteps quickly getting closer.

"Are you alright?" Asked Sanada-sempai. I ignored him and continued to try and get a response from Hakuno-san.

"Can you hear me!? Please! Answer me!"

* * *

Reiya POV

* * *

"It's so nice to see you again." I opened my eyes and discovered I was once again in the Velvet Room.

"...What happened?"

"You lost consciousness after awakening to your 'power'." Igor elaborated. "...It's nothing to worry about though. so, just... relax." His ever present grin seemed to soften a bit. "By the way, I see that it was Pandora that heeded your calling."

"Pandora... what is she?"

"Pandora is what is known as a Persona... it is a manifestation of your psyche."

"So, then Pandora's apart of me? She came from my mind?"

"Precisely. A Persona is a facet of your personality, that surfaces as you react to external stimuli. You may think of it as a mask that one wears to protect against many hardships... that being said, your power is still weak."

"...Weak, huh?"

"When you use your Persona ability, you must channel your inner strength. The ability evolves, as you develop your Social Links: your emotional ties to others."

"So let me get this straight. I have this power called Persona, which lets me summon this entity from inside my mind, and this entity gets stronger the closer I become with others?"

"You catch on quickly my dear guest. Please, do not forget what you have learned here. Now then... time marches on in your world. I shouldn't keep you here any longer. Next time we meet, you will come here of your own accord."

"But how will I be able to do that?"

"You will know when the time comes. Until we meet again, Farewell."

* * *

I slowly became aware of my senses returning. The first thing I noticed was that the bed sheets I was under felt different from the ones I'm use to. Then I heard the sound of a fan spinning somewhere above me. Eventually, I noticed another presence in the room besides myself. I opened my eyes to discover I was in a hospital (ick) and that Takeba was sitting beside my bed.

"You're awake!" She sounded ecstatic. "Um... how do you feel?"

"Like someone took a sledge hammer to my head. How long have I been out?"

"You've been sleeping for almost a whole week!? Do you know how worried I was?" She paused to collect herself for a moment. "Oh yeah, this is Tatsumi Memorial Hospital. It's just a short walk from the station."

There was an awkward silence for a while before Takeba-san started again.

"The doctor couldn't find anything wrong with you. He kept saying you were just exhausted... but you just wouldn't wake up."

"...Sorry, I like to take long naps when I'm not feeling well."

That got her laughing "Long naps!? You consider being unconscious for a week to just be a long nap!?" The light mood didn't last long, though, before she suddenly got a serious look on her face. "Um.. I'm sorry I couldn't do anything. I was supposed to protect you, but... it wound being the other way around huh? But you're power, it was amazing!"

"...So all that really happened, huh? Fighting monsters, the thing that came out of my head followed the thing that came out of _its_ head."

"Yeah... I know it can be hard swallow. I know I had a hard time believing when I saw it for the first time."

"It's probably not hard in the way your thinking though... I've been running into those monsters for..." I paused to think "Hell, I think it's been ten years at this point."

I looked over at Takeba. She seemed mortified at what I'd just said.

"...Ten years?" she said in a small voice before she shouted "You've been experiencing the Dark Hour for ten YEARS!?"

"Ow... not so loud Takeba-san, my head's still killing me remember?"

"How can you be so... so calm about all this!?"

"I think you missed the whole 'ten years' bit. I more or less grew up in this... wait" I stopped as I processed what Takeba said earlier. "Dark Hour?"

She seemed to get uncomfortable. "Um... yeah. You know how the world... changes at midnight?"

"Everything turns green, there's random ass bloodstains everywhere and people become coffins, right?"

"Yeah, that's right. The Dark Hour is what we call it. It's when the Shadows come out and attack people."

"..."

"Hey, I know you probably have a ton of questions, but let's save them for later, okay? I'm pretty sure Mitsuru-Sempai and the others wanted to tell you this stuff in person."

"Fine by me, it's too early to be receiving an info dump."

"...It's half past noon Hakuno-san..."

"And I woke up roughly ten minutes ago after apparently being in a coma for about a week. So as far as I'm concerned, it's still too early."

She giggled a bit at that. She stood from her stool and faced the window. "Hey uh.. I wanted to tell you.. that I'm sort of like you."

"Like me how?"

"My dad died in an accident when I was little... and my mom and I aren't exactly on very good terms. You lost your parents when you were young too right?" She seemed to flinch "Sorry, but I.. already know a lot about your past."

"If you know that much then you should know that I have no memory about the accident... or anything prior for that matter." I responded bitterly. My missing memories have always been a bit of a sore spot. Knowing that a good seven years of my life were just gone... I've always wondered what my life was like before I awoke in the hospital three days after the wreck. "Besides, they were only my foster parents anyways... who knows where my real parents are."

"Sorry, it just..." she stopped for a moment, looking more than a little upset. "It didn't seem fair that I knew so much about you... so I wanted you to know about my past too." She continued where she left off. "It was back in ninety-nine. There was a big explosion in the area. Supposedly, my dad died in the blast, but no-one really knows what happened. He was working in a lab for the Kirijo Group. So... I'm hoping that if I stick around long enough, I'll figure out what really happened."

"So that's how you got involved in all this?" I said, trying to get away from the depressing topic.

"Yeah. To be honest though, that was my first time fighting them too. Of course I just panicked and wasn't of any help..." She seemed like she was gonna keep beating herself up over this so I decided to try some encouragement.

"I wouldn't feel bad if I were you. It's only natural to be terrified of those things... I know I was the first handful of times around. Truth be told, it's a miracle I'm still here, and if I didn't have the experience I have now, I probably would have locked up when fighting those things too."

"Hah... and here I am telling you all this the moment you wake up. While I was waiting I was thinking 'I've been hiding so many things from her. As soon as she wakes up, I'll tell her the truth. So, thanks for listening. I've been wanting to share that story for a long time."

I could understand that. Going through something that no-one else has... you desperately want to find someone you can relate to. You want to be around a person who understands what you've had to endure, and can offer up advice. For ten years I've experienced this.. 'Dark Hour'... but who could I have gone to for answers? Honestly, I'm glad to have found people like me... and to know that I'm not quite as crazy as I thought.

"Well, I'm gonna get going. I'll let the others know you're awake. Take it easy, okay? Be a good patient."

"Whatever you say, Takeba!" I shot back, rolling my eyes. And for the first time in ten years, I could feel a genuine smile on my face.


	8. Chapter VII: SEES

**Author's Notes:**

And so begins the introduction of SEES... along with one of the larger info dumps of Persona 3. There really isn't any way around it, this chapter is mostly just exposition. I tried to mix it up using Reiya's reactions, but there's still only so much I can do with that.

Still, there's something I'd like to ask you guys. What do you think of Reiya's Persona: Pandora? I did a lot of research to figure out what she should look like, and figure out what kind of skill she could learn. I won't go into details about her abilities (that will come at another time) but I've got a general idea as to how Reiya's going to use her in the future. Review or PM me with your answers.

Until we meet again, Farewell.

* * *

 **Chapter VII**

 **S.E.E.S.**

* * *

Reiya POV

* * *

I didn't get the info dump I was expecting when I returned to the dorm that day. Don't know if they were just giving me time to recover or what, but I was glad regardless. I already had enough to sort through my head as it was.

The day came and passed pretty much like normal, and it was almost weird to be going back to school the very next morning. Nothing special happened all day, save for the rumor mill having kicked in full force. It seems like while I was out, someone got a "peek" at my records after Toriumi-sensei accidentally left them on her desk. So everywhere I went, there I could see people whispering to one another only to suddenly clam up whenever I walked nearby. My week long disappearing act probably didn't help my case. Imagine my surprise though, when Junpei walked up like nothing had changed.

"Hey, Reiya-chan! Where've ya been? You were only here for like three days before you just took a week off."

 _(-Reiya-chan? Iori's certainly quick to drop the honorifics...-)_ "...Would you believe me if I said I've been in a coma for the past week?"

"Whoa, seriously? I heard you collapsed from stress or something."

 _(-So that's their cover story, huh?-)_ "Something like that." _(-No point saying otherwise. They obviously want to keep this Dark Hour thing a secret.-)_

"Well glad to see you're doing better. Gotta feel sorry for ya though. You only just got here and you already have a ton of stuff to catch up on."

That's when it hit me. I'd been gone for a whole week. After only being here for three days. The mere thought of the massive amount of make-up assignments I was bound to have was already giving me a headache. With everything that had happened the night I collapsed, I hadn't given much thought about school work. Needless to say, my mood went from being emotionally conflicted, to being flat out depressed in a matter of seconds.

"There goes anything resembling a good mood." I muttered with a sigh. "Thanks for nothing Iori."

"Haha, sorry 'bout that Reiya-chan. And hey, enough with this Iori crap. Just call me plain old Junpei!"

I actually managed to crack a smile at that. "Whatever you say 'plain-old-Junpei'."

That got him laughing again. Our conversation got cut short however, once class began. The history teacher, Mr. Ono, was an odd one. For one he apparently wore a samurai helmet everywhere he went. For two, every fifth sentence of his lecture was interrupted by him complaining about how he wished we were talking about the Sengoku era _(-I mean c'mon! I like samurais as much as the next person, but really?-)_ Once we reached the end of the stone age, he decided to ask a random trivia question. Which he directed at Junpei. Who turned to me for help. So I had to bail him out. Again.

 _(-Why do I feel like this is going to become a habit-)_

* * *

Once school ended, I headed straight back to the dorm. With out my phone to act as a G.P.S., I wasn't about to risk getting lost somewhere in the city again. Somewhere along the way, Takeba caught up with me.

"Hey, Mitsuru-sempai wanted me to tell you to come to the fourth floor of the dorm when you get back."

"So it's finally time for the info dump, huh? As much as I'm looking forward to getting answers, something tells me my head's only going to hurt more than it already does."

"..."

"*sigh* What's wrong?"

"It's uh... well..."

"Takeba, the sooner you spit it out, the faster I can answer you."

"Sorry. I can't stop thinking about what you said back at the hospital."

"The whole ten years thing?"

"Yeah... how did you manage to.. well, survive for so long without a Persona?"

"I ran when I could, and fought only when I needed to."

"But our sempai say that only a Persona user can fight and kill Shadows."

"Really? I mean, the few times I have fought them before I got Pandora, all I had to do was bash in their masks and they dissolved just like the ones that attacked us on the roof."

"...Then, maybe you've always had the potential? Even if you weren't aware of it until now, I mean."

"Why are you asking me? You do realize that at this point you know a hell of a lot more than I do, right?"

"Sorry, I-"

"And stop apologizing already! I get that you're probably feeling guilty about a lot of things, and that you likely have just as many question about my past as I do about... everything else that's going on, but as far as I'm concerned, what's happened has already happened, and there's nothing either of us can do about it."

"..." She just looked down at her feet after I got done ranting.

"Look Yukari, I'm grateful for what you did do. Even if you did get knocked aside by that giant ass Shadow, you at least tried to protect me, right? And if you hadn't pointed that gun at your head, I probably would have tried to use it as a normal gun." _(-That last bit is complete bullshit. I felt like I was possessed when I shot myself with that thing. But hey, whatever cheers her up, right?-)_

It seemed to work somewhat, although she still seemed pretty upset. "Thanks Reiya."

* * *

"Ah, there you are." Ikutsuki greeted me as I entered the room with Yukari. I shuddered when I heard his voice.

Looking around, the room we were in looked like some kind of meeting room. There was a long coffee table in the center of the room with a silver briefcase sitting on top of it, with a couch on the right, and three padded stools on the left. At the far end of the table sat Ikutsuki in a big chair. Kirijo-sempai sat on the couch while a silver haired boy sat on a stool off to Ikutsuki's right.

"I'm glad that you're okay." continued Ikutsuki. "The reason I asked you hear is because there are some things I needed to discuss with you. Please, have a seat."

I took a spot on the stool closest to me while Yukari sat on the couch directly across from me.

"Oh, before that, I'd like to finally introduce you to Akihiko here. I believe I mentioned him when we last spoke."

"How ya' doin'." He greeted with a wave. Looking at him more closely, I noticed his right arm seemed to be moving rather stiffly.

"Better than I was yesterday. Still got a bit of a headache though."

"Okay" the chairman began. "let me start by asking you this. Would you believe me if I said a day consists of more than twenty-four hours."

"Yep." _(-Although, if you had asked me before the other night, I most likely would have looked at you funny-)_

Coming out of my thoughts, I noticed every present save Yukari had varying degrees of 'What did you say?' written on their expressions.

"I'm guessing you didn't fill them in on what I told you at the hospital." I directed at the brunette. She kinda laughed awkwardly and shrank down when everyone else's attention was suddenly directed at her.

"Takeba, is there something you've neglected to mention?" Asked Kirijo-sempai, sounding mildly annoyed.

"Um, uh... well..."

"She tried to clarify a few things when I woke up at the hospital. So I already know a little bit about this Dark Hour thing that's been going on. Apparently, I've been experiencing it for the past ten years without realizing what it actually was."

Cue the same mortified expressions I saw on Yukari when I mentioned the same thing to her. Ikutsuki recovered first.

"How very interesting. That would certainly explain why you seem to have adapted to the Dark Hour so well."

"Okay, but what IS the Dark Hour. All Yukari mentioned was that it's supposedly when those Shadow things come out."

"The Dark Hour is like a hidden time between midnight and the very next second. Although, perhaps it would be better to say that normal people simply don't notice it. This is because they are essentially asleep inside their coffins."

"But that's not what makes the Dark Hour so interesting." Said Sanada-sempai. "Like you've said, those Shadows appear only during the Dark Hour. They go around attacking anyone not in a coffin." He then got a huge grin on his face. "It's our job to defeat them. Sounds exciting, huh?"

"Akihiko! You just got hurt the other day. Why are you always like this?" Kirijo-sempai scolded him, jumping out of her seat on the couch. I got the feeling he acts like this a lot.

"Now, now. He does his work well." Interjected Ikutsuki. Both sempai sat down, although Kirijo-sempai still seemed rather annoyed. "Long story short," the chairman continued "We're Specialized Extracurricular Execution Squad, or SEES for short. On paper, we're nothing more than a school club, but the truth is that we are dedicated to eliminating the Shadows and the Dark Hour. Mitsuru is the leader, while I am the club adviser."

Mitsuru picked up from there. "A Shadow feeds on the mind of its prey. I trust you've heard of the Apathy Syndrome that so many people are coming down with?"

"Yeah, those guys are Shadow victims, aren't they?"

"That is correct." Ikutsuki spoke up again. "Although rare, there are those who can function normally during the Dark Hour. Some even may awaken to a special power that enables them to fight Shadows. That power is called Persona, the very same power you used the other night. The Shadows can only be defeated by a Persona user."

"But wait," Yukari interrupted "when I spoke with Reiya in the hospital earlier, she said she's been able to kill Shadows even before she awakened."

Everyone else seemed surprised at this. "I see, perhaps you've always had the potential, and never truly awakened to it until recently." Ikutsuki reasoned, coming up with the same theory Yukari had earlier. "Mitsuru?" he said gesturing towards the briefcase. In response, she got up and opened the briefcase, revealing a silver handgun, and a red armband with S.E.E.S. written on it.

"What we're trying to say is, we'd like you to join us. We've prepare an Evoker for you. We'd appreciate it if you would lend us you're strength."

I pondered for a moment, before deciding. I walked over to the briefcase and picked up the gun, which I presumed was the Evoker she referred to.

"Alright. Maybe I stick around long enough, I might get some semblance of normalcy in my life. And besides, fighting together is a much better means to survive than fighting alone."

Yukari let out a big sigh. "I was afraid you'd say no. Welcome aboard."

"Thank you for your assistance. I truly am glad." The chairman stated. "Oh, and about your room assignment, why don't you just stay here, in your current room? I don't know what the hold up was, but I guess it worked out in the end." He said with a chuckle.

The other members of SEES just looked at him funny, before Yukari spoke up.

"Holdup? But wasn't that... oh, never mind. It doesn't matter anymore."

 _(-...They totally set this whole arrangement up, didn't they?-)_

 **CRASH**

"GAH!" I shouted in surprise at the what sounded like glass shattering. A card floated in front of me. It turned around, revealing the silouette of a man carrying knapsack over his shoulder, with a dog following closely on his heels. At the bottom of the card, was the number zero.

 _ **Thou shalt have our blessing when thou choosest to create a Persona of the Fool Arcana...**_

"Hey, are you okay?" I heard Yukari ask with concern in her voice.

"...PLEASE tell me I'm not the only one that heard that."

"Heard what?" asked Sanada-sempai.

"I-never mind, must have been my imagination." _(-Was that one of those Social Links Igor mentioned?-)_

"Hakuno, are you sure you're alright?" It was Kirijo-sempai this time.

"I'm fine, it's just..." I paused trying to think of a good excuse. "...I think I should go to bed early. I might not have recovered as well as I thought I had."

"It's still early in the evening though." pointed out Yukari.

"And I was in a week long coma until yesterday morning..." I stopped when I realized something. "Actually, there's something I've been meaning to ask."

"Oh... and what might that be?" Ikutsuki responded.

"The other night, when I summoned Pandora, that... that _thing_ burst out of her like some monster in a horror movie. Do you have an explanation for what exactly happened? Because if at all possible, I'd like to avoid having a repeat. My head still hurts because of it..." I muttered that last bit to myself.

To my disappointment, no one seemed to have any answers. If anything, they just looked even more concerned for my well being.

Kirijo-sempai spoke up first. "To be honest, we were hoping you would be able to tell us. I've never seen nor heard of such a thing happening to any Persona user."

"I've been searching though the Kirijo Group databases for possible information..." Ikutsuki began. "But so far, my search has turned up no results. I can continue looking, but the chances of me finding anything of use is admittedly rather slim."

 _(-I'm still not comfortable around this guy-)_ "That's alright, I guess. If you can't find anything I'll just have to figure it out on my own. Now if you'll excuse me," I said, trying to fake a convincing yawn. "I've got a bed to collapse onto."


	9. Chapter VIII: Magician

**Author's Notes:**

Yay, Social Links! This is where I'm going to take control. While a lot of these Social Links are going to deal with the same concepts, how Reiya deals with each scenario is going to be different. Not to mention that Social Links are a convenient means of developing characters, something I want to have a focus on.

Junpei seems like such an easy person to get along with, which is why it only seems to makes sense to me that his Social Link is the first to appear after the obligatory SEES Social Link. I've already got a general plan as for how this Social Link is gonna play out, and I already love what's yet to come.

Until we meet again, Farewell.

* * *

 **Chapter VIII**

 **Magician**

* * *

Reiya POV

* * *

I returned to my room as soon as I left the meeting. True to my word, I got dressed into my usual green nightgown, and let myself fall on to my bed. However, since I wasn't nearly as tired as I tried to appear, I didn't have any luck falling asleep. It wasn't all that surprising really, since I had all this new information to sort through in my head. It didn't seem like much time had passed before I realized that it was getting dark out. With a sigh, I turned on my CD player (I always slept better with music in the background) keeping the volume a little low so as to avoid disturbing any of my dorm mates. It took awhile, but eventually I started to become drowsy. My final thought before fully passing out was how close to midnight it was.

"Hi, how are you?"

I shot out of bed shrieking. Or maybe it would be more accurate to say 'fell out of bed', considering how the next thing I knew, my face was firmly pressed against the ground. I fumbled, trying to get up as quickly as possible, but only managed to flip myself over so that I was propped up on my elbows facing where the sound of the voice came from. It was the pajama kid from the day I first arrived. He was sitting at the foot of my bed with this annoyingly (and creepy) amused smile. Another glance around told me that it was currently the Dark Hour.

"How did you get in here?" It was weird. Given the circumstances, you'd think I'd be a hell of a lot more freaked out. As soon as I saw the kid though, I started to calm down. Just like when we first met, there was something oddly familiar about him. Almost like being reunited with a relative you haven't seen in years. Don't get me wrong though, I still found the kid to be incredibly creepy. But it was more of an... endearing kind of creepy... if that makes any sense.

"I'm always with you."

 _(-...What?-)_

"Soon, the end will come. I remembered, so I thought I should tell you."

"The end?"

"The end of everything." _(-...Well THAT'S reassuring...-)_ "But to be honest, I don't really know what it is." He stood up from my bed as picked myself off the floor. He continued as I sat down on my bed. "Oh, it looks like you've awakened to your power... and an unusual power it is. A power that takes many forms, yet is bound by none. It may prove to be your salvation, depending on where you end up."

"What do you mean?"

"You will come to understand it soon enough."

 _(-Why does everything have to be so cryptic? Is there some universal rule that all supernatural entities can never give you a straight answer.-)_

He did that little teleporting thing he does, reappearing behind the foot of my bed.

"Do you remember when we first met? I expect you to honor your commitment. I'll be watching you, even if you forget me." _(-I don't think I'll be forgetting about you anytime soon, kid.-)_ "Okay then, see you later." He vanished.

* * *

Needless to say, I didn't get much sleep that night.

The next morning started with Yukari calling me downstairs. Since I still felt like a zombie, I only barely registered Yukari leading downstairs and asking Sanada-sempai a question. I started to gain focus right around the time sempai opened the front door to shout something.

"Hold your horses. This is frickin' heavy." My eyes snapped open at the sound of that all too familiar voice. Yukari and I shot a glanced at one another.

"There's no way..." We said at the same time.

Sure enough, Junpei walked in through the front door not a moment later with a ton of luggage.

"J-Junpei!? Why is he here!?" Yukari shouted. "Wait - don't tell me he - "

"Oh, so you've already met then? That certainly saves time on introductions."

"...He's joining us, isn't he?" I asked, having put two and two together.

"That's right. I found him while I was out on one of my patrols. Seems like he has the potential, but he only awakened to it recently. I told him about us and he chose to join us."

"YOU have the potential!? Are you serious!?" Yukari sounded like she just couldn't believe what was happening.

"He found me crying like a baby at the convenience store, surrounded by coffins. I don't remember much, but man that's embarrassing!" _(..Why did that almost sound like boasting to me?-)_ "He said that's.. Y'know.. completely normal in the beginning. Like being confused and not remembering anything. Did you guys know that?"

"Dunno if it happened to me." I started "It's been close to ten years since I started experiencing this stuff, so my memory of what my first experience was like is kinda fuzzy." _(-Plus there's my memory loss to take into account. Considering how I was already experiencing the Dark Hour when I woke up in the hospital, there really is no way to say for certain if I started experiencing it before or after the accident.-)_

"Whoa, seriously?" He sounded surprised. "But man, I was shocked to find out about you guys. I had no idea." He's expression suddenly got somber. "I'm glad I'm not the only one. It could get kind lonely, y'know?"

"Tell me about it..." I muttered.

"Now that we've got so many people on board..." Sanada-sempai started "I think we're about ready to explore that place."

"Ooh, we're gonna go do somethin'? Sweetness!" Junpei said with no small amount of excitement.

"Wait," Yukari seemed nervous "You mean... Tartarus?"

"Tartarus? What's that? ...Sounds like toothpaste."

"My Greek mythology is kinda rusty, but isn't Tartarus the name of some place in the underworld?" I asked.

"The name isn't all that important. What is, is that we believe we can find some answers about the Dark Hour there."

"I hope so..." Yukari responded.

"The Chairman will give us the details tomorrow night, so be prepared."

* * *

After classes ended the next day, we got a surprise visit from Kirijo-sempai.

"Do you have a minute? Come to the lounge when you get back to the dorm. I have something to tell everyone."

Yukari looked away for some reason while Junpei asked "Oh, are we having that talk?"

"I'll provide the details once everyone's gathered. See you there." And then she promptly turned around and left.

"Wow," Junpei spoke up "she sure didn't waste any time leaving."

"She's probably busy with things like student council, unlike us."

"Whoa, Yuka-tan! Do I sense some hostility?"

Yukari got a look on her face that screamed yes, but she denied it saying "Well it's not that I don't like her... it's just..." She never finished that thought.

* * *

Junpei and I decided to head back early together. The two of us just kept up some mild banter, sending jokes each others ways. At some point Junpei started asking me a few personal questions. Stuff like what my hobbies were, or what my favorite foods might be. I don't know how it happened, but somewhere along the way the topic switched over to my wardrobe.

"Y'know, I couldn't help but notice that you're always wearing those boots of yours, even at school."

"Is there anything wrong with that? I mean, none of the teachers have grilled me about it yet. And besides, I like my boots." I said, now looking down at my brown and green camouflage combat boots.

"I'm not saying it is, it's just the more we hang out, the more I get this tomboyish impression of you. I wouldn't be surprised to find out you cut your hair short, or that you started wearing the boy's uniform in school." He said with a chuckle.

"...Does the fact that I'm wearing shorts under my skirt count for anything. Because if I thought I could get away with it, I would definitely wear the boy's uniform if only to have an excuse to not wear a skirt." I can't stand the thought of being one misstep away from flashing everyone present. It's for that thought alone that you will never see me willingly wearing anything resembling a dress or skirt without sneaking some shorts underneath.

"Seriously? What, are that paranoid about flashing someone?"

"...Way to read my mind, Junpei."

He laughed at that. "But what about your hair then? It's just that I've noticed that you sometimes look like you get annoyed with it."

"Oh... well, there's a bit of a story about that..." I said a bit uncomfortably.

Junpei seemed to notice the shift in mood because he responded "Hey, if you don't want to, ya don't have to tell me anything."

"It's... nothing to bad. Just a reminder of one of my biggest regrets in life."

"..." He got silent for a moment, probably trying to think of a way to get away from the topic. "Hey, you know for what it's worth, I think you look pretty good with long hair. It kinda gives you this... I dunno... mature, smart girl kinda look."

"Thanks... I guess. Still wish I had straight hair though. This stuff's a nightmare to brush through in the morning."

"Ah c'mon, It can't be that bad, can it!?" he asked with a big grin on his face.

"Junpei, there are some days when I have to spend a full ten minutes just trying to get my hair to obey gravity."

That got him to laugh even harder that time, but what caught my attention was the sound of glass shattering. Before my eyes floated a card, bearing the image a pair of hands that seemed to be conjuring fire. Two eyes peered outward from just above the flame, and an infinity symbol was marked just above that.

 **Thou art I... and I am thou...**

 **Thou hast established a new bond...**

 **Thou shalt be blessed when creating Personas of the Magician Arcana...**

 _(-Was that another of those Social Links Igor mentioned?-)_

Snapping out of my thoughts, I spent the rest of the walk sharing some of my biggest hair related disasters with Junpei.


	10. Chapter IX: Tartarus

**Author's Notes:**

So, I've decided that I'm going to be adding Author's Notes to each chapter, meaning that all the previous chapters will have them edited in shortly after this chapter is released. Go ahead and check them out if you wish.

As for my notes on this chapter, I know I've stuck pretty closely to the way things went in the game, but this is the start of my own little twist to the story. This chapter doesn't have as much of that as I would have liked, but the next chapter is right around where your first given a taste for the sheer amount of freedom the game gives you. I'm taking advantage of that fact to really flush out Reiya's personality, and make her more than a generic OC.

On another note, I'd like to ask you guys a question. What do you think of Reiya now? What kind of person do you guys see her as? Do you like the direction I'm taking her, and if not, what would you like to see from her. Review or PM me with your answer.

Until we meet again, farewell.

* * *

 **Chapter IX**

 **Tartarus**

* * *

Reiya POV

* * *

"Okay, everybody's here." the Chairman said once Junpei and I took our seats. "I'd like your undivided attention. For a long time, Mitsuru and Akihiko were the only Persona users we had. But that number has recently jumped to five. Therefore..." he paused, checking to make sure that everyone was paying attention. "Starting tonight at twelve A.M., I'd like to commence the exploration of Tartarus."

"Sorry, I asked this yesterday..." Junpei began to ask "but what's this 'Tartarus' thing again?"

Yukari giggled a bit "You haven't seen it, Junpei?"

"To be fair, I don't think I've seen it either. Not that I'd even know what to look for in the first place." I said.

"It's no surprise, since it only appears during the Dark Hour." Ikutsuki explained.

"Just like the Shadows... pretty interesting, huh? And it's the perfect place to train. You can think of it as a Shadow nest."

"A Shadow... nest?" I asked, not liking the sound of that in the slightest.

"Whoa... sounds pretty cool."

"But Sempai, what about your injury?" Yukari asked out of concern.

"Since Akihiko hasn't fully recovered yet, he'll only come as far as the entrance." Kirijo-sempai responded while giving Sanada-sempai a pointed look.

"Yeah, I know..." He sounded pretty disappointed.

"Since we're dealing with Shadows, Tartarus isn't something we can avoid." The Chairman picked up.

Junpei stood up all of a sudden. "Relax, I've got your backs!"

"Says the person with the least amount of experience in this room." I pointed out with a flat tone of voice.

Before he could retort, Kirijo-sempai asked Ikutsuki "What about you Mr. Chairman?"

"I'll stay here. As you know, I can't summon a Persona."

I was about to ask how he was able to stay active during the Dark Hour without being eaten, when I realized that I've done the same thing for the past decade.

* * *

We were all walking through the city at night, supposedly going to where this Tartarus place pops up, when we stopped at our school's gate.

"This is it? THIS is the place?" Junpei asked out of confusion. "WHY here?"

"Just wait a few minutes. It's almost midnight." Sanada-sempai answered.

I reached into my pocket to pull out my phone, only to realize that it had broken when I bumped into Beanie Guy the other day. Just like Sempai said, it wasn't long before the Dark Hour hit. Nothing out of the ordinary seemed to happen at first, until...

 ***RUMBLE***

"Whoa-what!?" I shouted in surprise. The very next second my eyes widened as our school literally rose up from the ground. Soon after that, the structure seem to twist and warp in impossible ways, continuing to rise. Before long, an impossibly shaped tower stood in the space where our school was moments ago.

"This is Tartarus. The labyrinth that appears during the Dark Hour. " Kirijo-sempai explained, not even fazed in the looked at her incredulously.

"L-L-Labyrinth!? The hell are you talking about!? What happened to our school!?"

"Once the Dark Hour passes, everything returns to normal."

"So then this is the nest you guys were referring to?" I asked.

"But, why!? Why did our school turn into a giant tower!?"

Kirijo-sempai looked away uncomfortably.

"You don't know either?"

"...No."

 _(-I don't think she's being entirely truthful-)_

There was a moment of silence before Yukari spoke up. "I'm sure it's complicated. Who cares anyway? It's not like it would change our minds about fighting."

"Well, maybe now we'll find out." Sanada-sempai said. "Mitsuru and I have only gone in for a peak; this will be our first time exploring it as well. Exciting, isn't it? There's got to be some sort of clue in here about the Dark Hour."

"Akihiko." Kirijo-sempai said. "I respect your enthusiasm, but you won't be accompanying today."

"I know... you don't have to remind me." He responded in disappointment.

* * *

We all walked in together, our feet clicking against the marble floor. The room we stood in was huge, with several pillars holding up the cieling. At the end of the room was a set of stairs that led up to a large door. Said door was framed by what looked like a golden clock.

"Whoa... it's just as cool on the inside." Junpei said in wonder.

"'Cool' is one word for it. Personally, I'd call it unnerving." I responded.

"This is just the entrance. The labyrinth lies beyond the door at the top of those stairs." Kirijo-sempai said while gesturing to the 'clock door'.

"First we'll have you three get a feel for this place. Why don't you look around?" Said Sanada-Sempai.

"What? By our selves!?" Yukari responded in shock.

"We're not asking you to go very far. As it stands, you'll only be exploring the first floor. I'll be feeding you information from here." Kirijo-sempai explained.

"So... you two didn't plan on coming in the first place?" Junpei asked.

"That's right." Admitted Sanada-sempai. "We're also going to choose a leader to make any necessary decisions."

"For real? One of us?" He suddenly got a huge grin on his face. "Oh, oh! Me me me! Pick me!"

As the blue capped teen continued to practically beg our sempai to chosen as leader, I began to consider who would be the best pick.

 _(-Junpei is a definite no. He only joined us yesterday, and as far as I know, doesn't have any experience fighting Shadows. Yukari been apart of SEES the longest out of the three of us, but according to her, the night I awoke was her first time fighting them too. Which leaves...-)_ My face fell as both our sempai turned to face me. _(-Oh no...-)_

"You're in charge." The silver haired upperclassman stated.

"What?! Why her!? I mean, she's a girl!? OW!" He started rubbing his ribs where I had just punched him.

"What does me being a girl have to with me being able to lead!?" I shouted, slightly offended by that comment.

"And besides, she HAS fought them before." Yukari added.

"Seriously?"

"That's true, but there's another reason." Sanada-sempai got back our attention. "You two," He pulled out his Evoker and pointed it at his head. "Can you summon your Persona as easily as she can?"

"Y-yeah, of course I can!" _(-That slight hesitation isn't helping your case Iori...-)_

"I think so." Yukari said afterword.

"These are Shadows we're talking about. Without your Persona, you're done for."

"Hold up a second." I cut in. "What's this about summoning a Persona being difficult?"

It was our red-haired sempai who explained this time. "The Evokers we use are shaped like guns for a reason. The Kirijo Group preformed many experiments to identify the best way to draw out a person's Persona. Of all the experiments preformed, the best results came from situations in which the user was placed under large amounts of stress. Even if you acknowledge that Evokers aren't real guns, you're still putting something that looks very much like a real gun to your head, and pulling the trigger. The mind reacts to the strongly to the threat of death, hence why gun-shaped Evokers have proven to be so effective, if difficult to use at first."

I took a moment to process the new information. "I guess that makes sense." _(-Although the fact that I've done it so easily makes me worry for my mentality-)_ "Just one more thing then. How do we know I won't have a repeat of what happened the first time I summoned Pandora."

Everyone save Junpei looked uncomfortable at that. "If that... _Thing_ appears again, I would suggest you return immediately."

"Hold on a sec. What exactly is everyone talking about?"

I turned to Junpei to find him looking pretty confused.

"Right, You weren't there that night." I started. "Basically, my Persona exploded after some skull faced monster ripped to shreds from the inside out."

"Whoa, that sounds... painful."

 _(-Understatement of the year...-)_ I thought, wincing at the memory. "Yeah, I don't know about you guys, but I'd rather not wind up in a coma every time I summon my Persona." I felt a strange sensation at that moment. I turned to my left and found a blue glowing door just sitting in one corner of the room, not even attached to any of the walls. At the same time, I felt some thing warm in my pocket.

"Hey, are you alright?" Yukari asked, having apparently noticed my reaction.

"Does anyone else see anything strange over there?" I said, gesturing towards the door.

Everyone looked, but it seemed like no one saw anything. "What is it that you find unusual, Hakuno?" Kirijo-sempai asked as I started to walk over towards the door. "...Hakuno?"

"Just a moment please. I wanna confirm something." I responded while pulling out the key Igor gave me awhile back. I put the key in the key socket, and opened the door.

* * *

"Welcome, to the Velvet Room" I heard that familiar voice. Opening my eyes, I found myself sitting across from Igor once again. "I've been waiting for you. The time has come for you to finally wield your power. The tower that you are about to venture into... how did it come to be? For what purpose does it exist? Regrettably, you are not yet capable of answering these questions, yet. That is why you must be made aware of the nature of your power."

"The nature? There's more to my power than just summoning a Persona?"

"Precisely. Your power is unique, for it is like the number zero. Empty, yet hold limitless possibilities."

That made me recall the conversation I had with that strange boy with the striped pajamas.

"I think I heard something similar a little while ago. Someone described my power as 'taking on many forms, yet being bound by none.'"

"That is another way of looking at it." His ever present grin somehow managed to grow wider. "To put it simply, you are capable of possessing multiple Personas, and summon them as needed. When you defeat your enemies, you shall see the faces of possibility before you. There may be times when they are difficult to grasp, but do not worry. Seize what you have earned. Your power will grow accordingly... be sure to keep that in mind."

That caught me off guard. "Multiple...!? So no one else has that power? Why am I so special?"

"Some awaken to this power naturally, while others receive it from an outside source. Regardless, it is the task of those of us, who reside within the Velvet Room, to help you further develop and control your power." His smile softened. "My spare time will soon be scarce. But please, come again of your own accord. I will tell you then about my true role... the manner in which I can best assist you."

"I will. Thanks, Igor."

"Farewell, my dear guest. Until next time."

* * *

The next thing I knew, I was standing in front of the Velvet Room door. I could hear footsteps behind me.

"Hey, are you alright?" I turned to face Yukari and Junpei, who both looked a little concerned.

"Yeah, what's up? You look like a zombie."

"It's nothing. Guess there wasn't anything here after all."

"Man, don't tell me you just spaced out or something? Come on, you're s'posed to be our leader."

"Hey, cut her some slack. If nothing's wrong then let's get going."

"Before you head up, we've prepared some weapons for you to use." Said Sanada-sempai.

"I thought we were going to fight with our Personas." I stated.

"The point of this exercise is to get you acclimated to summoning your Personas. However, you can't rely on your Persona to do everything in a fight. If an enemy gets too close, you may not have enough time to summon your Persona, and will therefore require an alternative means of protecting yourselves." Explained Kirijo-sempai.

"Well, I guess you guys are the experts for a reason."

The three of us underclassmen walked over to a barrel filled with weapons. How I didn't notice it before is beyond me. Yukari decided to put her archery practice to use and picked out a bow and quiver, while Junpei pick up a two handed sword. Which he than began to swing around like a baseball bat. _(-Hey whatever works for him-)_

I took my time deciding before finally settling on a sledge hammer. I gave it a good few swings, surprised at how easy it was.

"Sledge hammers aren't supposed to be this light, right?"

"That's probably your Persona that's making it seem that way. Just having one makes you naturally stronger." Explained our silver-haired sempai.

"Are there any other benefits to having a Persona in my head?"

"There is." Began Kirijo-sempai. "Having a Persona makes you naturally resistant to certain types of attacks, while leaving you vulnerable to others. For instance, my Penthesilea makes me resistant to ice based attacks, while making me weak to fire based ones."

"How many different kinds of attacks are there?"

"There are three types of physical attacks, being slash, pierce, and strike, as well as four types elemental, being fire, ice, wind, and lightning. There are also light and dark spells which have a chance of instantly incapacitate, if not outright kill foes."

 _(-I don't like the sound of those last two-)_ I thought with a shiver. "Just one more thing before we go." I walked over to join the rest of the group. "How do we know what our Personas are capable of?"

"That's simple. Just focus on there presence in your mind, and the knowledge will come naturally."

"Sounds easy enough." I turned to Yukari and Junpei. "Let's get this over with. The sooner we get done here, the sooner we can get some sleep."

They nodded in agreement, and we all ascended up the stairs, into Tartarus.


	11. Chapter X: Exploring Tartarus

**Author's Notes:**

Let the exploration of Tartarus commence! I am so glad to have made it this far and still have the drive to keep going. On a side note: writing a fight scene for so many characters is not as easy as you might think. Especially if you keep forgetting that some of them exist. Yukari's the team healer, so I guess it's not surprising to see her not doing as much damage in combat, but I don't want her to just be sitting there, waiting for someone to get hurt so that she can do her thing.

Until we meet again, Farewell.

* * *

 **Chapter X**

 **Exploring Tartarus**

* * *

"So, this is it, huh?"

"I hope I don't get lost."

"You and me both, Yukari."

We took a quick look around the area. The floor we were on resembled the halls of Gekkoukan High, but with the same green tint and occasional bloodstains that marked the Dark Hour.

I soon heard a soft buzzing noise, similar to a radio being turned on. _"Can you all hear me?"_

"Whoa, is that you Mitsuru-sempai?" Junpei asked.

 _"I'll be providing audio backup from here on out. If you have any concerns, don't be afraid to address them."_

"Wait, does that mean you can see inside here?"

 _"It's my Persona's ability. I'd like to join you, but Tartarus's layout changes from one Dark Hour to the next. That's why outside support is imperative."_

"Well, THAT makes me feel a whole lot better..." I couldn't tell if Yukari was being sarcastic or not.

 _"Now, based on your current location, you can expect to encounter enemies any minute now. They shouldn't be too tough, but be careful. Practice makes perfect."_

"Alright!"

"Got it."

"..."

 _"Is something the matter, Hakuno?"_ Kirijo-sempai asked when I didn't respond.

"Oh, no. Sorry, just a little nervous is all."

 _"That's understandable. This is the first time any of you have entered Tartarus. You needn't worry, though. The enemies on the first floor are relatively weak, and I won't have you exploring any higher than that. This is only a practice run after all. It's a chance to allow all of you to prepare for what's to come."_

I took a deep breath to calm my nerves, then started walking forward. "Let's get this over with."

It didn't take long for us to spot the first Shadow. It wasn't much to look at, just a pile of black slime with two vaguely arm shaped appendages and the same blue mask as the giant Shadow that attacked the dorm.

 _"Watch out. Try to sneak up on it, and get the first strike in."_

I nodded, then started running as quietly as I can towards the Shadow. It noticed me just a second too late before I brought my sledge hammer down on its head. That seemed to hurt it, but it had enough strength left to take a swipe at me, forcing me to jump back. Next thing I knew, Junpei was barreling on past me with what sounded like a war cry, nearly knocking me over in the process. He finished the Shadow off in the next instant with a horizontal swing of his sword.

"Hell yeah! That was awes-OUCH! What the hell was that for!?" He cried out after I'd clocked him in the back of the head.

"That was for almost knocking me on my ass! What do you think would have happened if an there was more than one enemy? You could have left me without anyway to defend myself against an attack!"

 _"Hakuno has a valid point, Iori. You're all in this as a team. If one of you is left vulnerable, it could have disastrous consequences."_

"Man, whatever. I killed it, didn't I?"

 _"Iori..."_ Sempai said with a low voice.

"Alright, I get it! I'll be more careful from now on! Can we just get a move on, please!?"

I could hear Sempai sigh, before saying _"Alright, I'm sensing more Shadow's up ahead. Proceed with caution: there's more than one of them this time."_

As we started to move again, we came across a branching pathway. The one on the right seemed to head deeper into the labyrinth, while the one on the left lead to a small room with a staircase leading up.

 _"Do you see those stairs nearby? Staircases like those are the only way to proceed further up the tower. However, I cannot let you go any higher for tonight. Continue down the other path, and keep an eye out for any enemies along the way."_

"Got it, Kirijo-sempai." I responded, before heading the other way.

As we came upon another turn, I heard the sound of moving liquid. Gesturing at the others to keep quiet, I peeked around the corner to find three more Shadows wandering aimlessly in the hall.

 _"Certain Shadows are weak to certain types of attacks, while resistant to others, just like your Personas. I can use my Persona to try and analyze the enemy's abilities to a certain extent."_

"Can you scan the three ahead of us, Sempai?"

 _"Of course, but it will take me a while. It would be easier to get a reading while you're all in combat."_

I took one last peek, before nodding at the others, telling them to be ready to move. I pulled out my Evoker from the holster strapped to my leg, and rushed around the corner.

"Pandora!" ***BANG*** The moment I pulled the trigger, my Persona materialized and charged the Shadows. She threw her box up into the air, before using the chains to slam it back down on the closest Shadow. By that time Junpei had run around to my other side, Evoker pressed against his head.

"Hermes!" ***BANG*** I caught a glimpse of black and gold armor, before Hermes literally flew threw the next Shadow, using it's gold wing-like blades.

 ***BANG*** "Io!" I heard Yukari's voice behind me but didn't get a chance to look back as a green miniature cyclone appeared around the third Shadow. With all of the Shadows stunned, the three of us ran in and started beating the ever living crap out of them. There really wasn't anything resembling coordination, we just swung, stomped and shot them all until they finally dissolved.

 _"Well done. At this rate you will be use to fighting as a team in no time at all."_

"Thanks... Sempai..." I panted, still trying to catch my breath. "Are there... any more on this floor?"

 _"...There seems to be just one more group up ahead. Proceed with caution. This one seems larger than the last."_

I think I heard Yukari say something in response, but my attention was caught by a set of cards that floated in front of me. There was only enough time for me to register how each card had something different when flip around and started moving in circles. I reached out and grabbed one, and when I did, It felt like something flowed into me. I heard a voice.

 **THOU HATH WELCOMED PIXIE INTO THINE HEART**

 _(-So that's how I get new Personas.-)_

"Hey, Reiya-chan. Ya alright over there?"

I looked over to find Junpei and Yukari looking at me, lowering my arm to my side.

"I'm fine. Why do you ask?"

"It look like you were trying to grab somethin' out of the air, but I didn't see nothin'." Junpei explained. "What, did you notice something I didn't?"

I took a moment to gather my thoughts before answering. "Yeah, I did. But, I have a feeling that if I tried to explain it, that you'd think I was crazy or something."

"Is everything okay?" Yukari asked, seemingly concerned.

"...I want to try something. If it works, It'll make explaining what I saw a lot easier."

I then pull out my Evoker, and put it to my head.

"Persona." ***Bang*** As expected, there was that familiar blue light that signaled a Persona being summoned. But, It wasn't Pandora that matereialized. Not gonna lie, seeing Yukari's and Junpei's dumbfounded faces when Pixie popped instead up was pretty damn funny.

"Wha- I mean- the hell happened to your Persona!?" Junpei's follow up response just made all the better.

 _"What's happened?"_

"Sempai, Reiya just summoned a different Persona!" Yukari explained.

 _"What!? That's- Impossible!"_

"And this is why I wanted to give a demonstration before I started with the explanation..."

One explanation later, and everyone now knew about the card thing. I even summoned Pandora back to prove that I now had two Persona's in my possession. Kirijo-sempai made me promise to give a more detailed explanation once we got back down to the lobby, though. On a side note, Junpei was now extremely jealous of me. Not wanting to waste anymore time, I convinced everyone that we should get moving and finish of the last group of Shadows before the Dark Hour ended. I also got to find out the Yukari's Persona could heal people, which she used to restore our streangth before the next fight. As usefull as it was, I couldn't help but think that her Persona look... just plain weird. It was a woman sitting on top of a mechanical cow head which she also happened to be chained to.

"Your Persona looks weird." Also, Junpei apparently shares my sentiments.

"Whatever, let's just finish this so we can go home."

Having no reason to argue, we continued onward to the next group of shadows. This time, there were four of the slime monster things (Which I vaguely remembered Sempai calling the Cowardly Mayas while we were going to town on the last group).

"Sempai, what were these things weaknesses again?"

 _"These Shadows are weak against fire and wind. I'm afraid that's all I was able to gather from the last battle."_

"Well if they're weak to fire, then let's try this on for size!" Shouted Junpei as he rounded the corner.

"Agi!" He yelled as Hermes appeared and one of the Shadows literally exploded into flames.

"One more!" Another Shadow exploded. By this point the other two noticed and started to approach. Not wanting to risk them getting in too close, I summoned Pandora to try out the new skill she gained from the previous battle.

"Garu!" The lid to Pandora's box shook violently, as if something was trying to get out. In the next instant, a green cyclone identical to the one Yukari used before appeared. The unfortunate Shadow that got hit with it got bits of itself scattered across the floor.

The last Shadow got an arrow to the face, courtesy of Yukari.

The two Shadow's that got hit by Junpei's Agi spells were recovering, but looked ready to keel over any minute now. The Shadow I got with Garu was still stunned, while the one with the arrow sticking out of it was getting rewarded for it's diligence with more arrows.

"I've got the one on the right!" Rushing the weakened Shadows and dispatching it with my hammer. Junpei followed up by cleaving the other one in half, but lost his balance and fell over. The Shadow that Yukari had been shooting noticed and tried to take advantage of Junpei's vulnerable state, but was met with a giant metal box falling on its head. I helped Junpei get back up, as he summoned Hermes again to slice the last Shadow to ribbons with its wing-blades. Even after that, the damn just wouldn't die. That is, until Yukari summoned Io and splattered what little was left of it on the walls with Garu.

 _"Is everyone alright?"_

"Hell yeah! That was a piece of cake!"

"Says the guy who nearly face planted after kill a Shadow." Came my immediate response.

"Hey!"

"Just be glad that Reiya was there to save you, otherwise that Shadow would have gotten to you."

It was at that moment that the card thing started again. I noticed that there weren't any Personas in this set, so when it started spinning, I just reach out and grabbed one at random. Now I didn't know what I was expecting, but having a sword magically materialize in my hand was not it.

"How did I...?"

"Reiya?"

"Dude, where'd you get that sword from?"

"I... don't know? I think it might have come from that card thing I mentioned, but this is literally the second time I've experienced it, so..." I tried to explain to the best of my ability.

 _"Interesting. So in addition to gaining new Personas, you can also obtain new equipment?"_

"...Maybe? I honestly have no idea at this point."

Shortly after that, Sempai told us to split up and search for this thing called an "Access Point" that would allow us to return quickly. She also told us to be on the lookout for any treasure chests lying around, since they could potentially store useful resources that would make future trips to Tartarus much easier. It took me approximately thirty seconds to find what she was talking to.

 _(-This place is suppose to be a maze, right? How am I of all people having this much like finding things?-)_

The Access Point looked like a small platform with a light green glow coming off of it. I stepped into it and got to experience the strangest sensation of my life. It was this staticy feeling, like I'd stuck a finger in a light socket, then a bright flash of light. Next thing I knew, me, Junpei and Yukari were all standing in Tartarus's lobby.

"That was... interesting..." I commented.

"Dude, that felt just plain weird."

"You're telling me."

"Welcome back." We all turned and approached Kirijo-sempai. "So, how was it?"

"I'm not sure on how I feel just yet. This was only my first time in this place after all."

"That's understandable. Hopefully, with time you will grow accustomed to fighting with you're Personas."

"Wow, I had no idea I had that kinda power! We kick some ass! But man, I'm beat."

"That's cuz you were jumping around like a little kid."

"You look pretty tired yourself, Yuka-tan."

"I'm still trying to catch my breath actually."

"That's the effect of the Dark Hour; you'll become fatigued more easily." Kirijo-sempai explained. "Don't worry, though, you'll adapt."

 _(-That would explain why I don't feel as bad as those two.-)_

"But I'm surprised, you all did better than expected. At this rate, they'll catch up with you in no time, Akihiko." She said as I remembered that Sanada-sempai was here the whole time.

"Heh, we'll see about that."

 ***CRASH*** _(-Fucking- could these things find a quieter way of getting my attention!?-)_

 **Thou art I... And I am thou...**

 **Thou shalt have our blessing when thou choosest to make a Persona of the Fool Arcana**

 _(-Fool again? So these things can pop up more than once?-)_

"Hakuno, is everything alright?" Kirijo-sempai asked.

"Hm? Yeah, just... tired I think. Can we go home now? I just want to collapse into my bed."

"Of course." She responded "However, I expect a more detailed explanation of your... unique abilities tomorrow morning."

 _(-Damn it. I was hoping you would forget about that...-)_ "Of course, Sempai."


	12. Chapter XI: Connections and Family

**Author's Notes:**

Introducing another OC this time around. Just like with the original protagonist, Reiya is an orphan. However, she's an adopted orphan. Reiya's foster father is going to be playing a minor role throughout the story. Exactly what role he's going to play, I have yet to fully decide whether he's going to stick to what I have planned, or if he's going to become a much more prominent figure as the story progresses.

Until we meet again, Fairwell.

* * *

 **Chapter XI**

 **Connections and Family**

* * *

Reiya POV

* * *

"Morning. I didn't know we were on the same train." Sanada-sempai greeted me as we passed the school gates. "But... man, things have been crazy these past couple days."

"You're telling ME that!? I'm the one whose completely new to... to all of our club activities." I stated while trying to avoid mentioning anything about Shadows and the Dark Hour in public.

"Heh, guess you've got a point there. By the way, you doing okay? You just transfered here after all, so you must still be adjusting to things."

"I'm still getting into the rhythm of things. Being hospitalized three days into the start of the new school year hasn't helped much in that regard."

"I'm sure you'll get the hang of things eventually. You seem to catch on quickly, if your preformance last night was of any indication."

"...Thanks, I guess." I responded to the praise.

"Hey, you think there might be away for me to sneak in on the fight? Maybe I can get past Mitsuru if I wore Iori's hat." He muttered to him self. He shuddered a moment later, causing me to look at him curiously. "...No, nevermind. The consequences wouldn't be worth it..."

 _(-Consequences? Something tells me that Kirijo-sempai is not someone I want to piss off...-)_

As it turns out, there was an assembly we had to attend at the start of the day. Most of what was said flew right over my head do to a lack of interest, but they managed to get my attention when Kirijo-sempai walked up to the podium.

"Please welcome the new President, Kirijo Mitsuru, from class 3-D."

Sempai thanked the girl as she took her position.

"So, she did get elected." I heard Yukari say from behind me. "Well... I guess she IS the most popular girl in the school."

"You can say that again." Junpei responded from beside her. "It's like, there's this aura or somethin' around her... besides, this school is owned by the Kirijo Group, Right?"

"Yeah, I try not to think about it."

 _(-What's THAT supposed to mean?-)_

I didn't get a chance to ask since that was around the time that Sempai started her speech. I didn't catch all of it, but I had to admit that it was pretty impressive.

"Dang, that was freaking amazing. So... do you have any idea what she said." Junpei stated, once again displaying his amazing powers of understanding.

"More or less." I responded.

"Really? Guess you're smarter than me then." He admitted. "Sure didn't sound like something a high schooler would say. If it were anyone else, we'd be laughing our asses off."

* * *

Nothing of note happened during class that day. Of course, I was still pretty exhausted from last night's events, so I passed out in class at some point. Don't know how I didn't get caught since some guy named Kenji apparently did. I heard him mumbling something about cake when I got up from my seat.

On my way out the front door, I heard the sound of what I could only describe as a squeeling fangirl.

"Look, it's Sanada-sempai!"

"Where!? Oh, there he is!"

I watched as a crowd of girls all but swarmed the poor guy. At some point, Junpei had walked up beside me.

"Man, would you look at that? I hear they're always swarming him like that." He said with no small amount of jealousy in his voice. "I know he's the captain of the boxing team, but still..."

"I didn't think there were actually girls who were like that. I mean, you don't even see stuff like this on TV." I admitted.

It was around that point that he spotted us. "Hey, are you guys free this afternoon?" he asked as he approached us.

"Hell yeah!? What'cha got in mind!?" Junpei responded with way too much enthusiasm.

"I want the two of you to meet me at Paulownia Mall. You know where it is, right? I'll be waiting by the police station. See ya there."

Junpei seemed dissapointed. "The police station? You mean we're not hanging out with your friends?"

"Who, these girls? I don't even know their names. They talk so much they give me a headache. Anyway, I'm gonna head out. Don't keep me waiting."

He walked off, leaving behind a crowd of dissapointed schoolgirls.

"Awww. Why can't he be more friendly?" One of the girls asked while sighing.

"But that's what makes him so cool!" Another one exlaimed before they ran off to catch up with their beloved 'Sanada-sempai'.

"Man, how can he not know their names!? I mean seriously! Look at them!"

"I don't know, if I was in his position, I'd probably be of the same opinion."

"...Ah, whatever! Let's just go."

* * *

"Thank you, sir. Oh, these are the guys I was talking about earlier." Was what Junpei and I heard upon entering the police station. Inside was Sanada-sempai and a rather intimidating-looking police officer. "Glad you could make it. This is Officer Kurosawa. He helps keep our squad well equipped."

 _(-So this is where we get our weapons? Why's a police officer giving a bunch teenage students genuine lethal weapons?-)_

"...And, this is from the chairman." He continued while handing me and Junpei five-thousand yen a piece. "You can't fight empty handed, so find something you like. Officer Kurosawa has connections... but these things still cost money."

"Of course they do. Nothing in life is free." Stated the Officer.

"I realize that. Well, I'll see you later. Thanks again." Sempai said his fairwells before walking out of the office. The Officer then turned to face us.

"I've been informed about you two. My job is to maintain peace in this city, regardless of circumstances. I'm just an ordinary police officer, but it doesn't take a genius to know that something strange is going on here. I'm only doing what I think is right. That being said, don't think you're exempt from abiding the law. I may be bending a few rules myself, but if I find out you've been using this equipment for illegal purposes, I'll be treating you like any other criminal. Understand?"

"Y-yes, sir!" Junpei responded immediately.

"Now that that's out of the way..." He said while taking out a catalogue and showing it to us "take a look and see if you find anything you might want."

* * *

"Pssh, only five-thousand yen..." Junpei complained. We found out pretty quickly that while we could get equipment from Kurosawa-san, it was going to be a while before we could actually AFFORD anything he was offering. Seriously though, I understand that we need to give something in exchange for his services, but most of that stuff was freaking expensive. Junpei and I split up soon afterward, with Junpei heading off towards the arcade.

 _(-He's going to blow off all that money in there, isn't he?-)_

I decided that it was high time I looked into getting myself a new phone, and after some searching I picked out a simple green flip phone with a GPS function. And before anyone asks, yes, I am that paranoid about getting lost. With that out of the way, I decided to head back to the dorm.

* * *

Kirijo-sempai greeted me once I walked through the door. "Perfect timing. I'd like speak with you regarding our exploration of Tartarus."

I nodded, noticing that Sanada-sempai and... Ikutsuki-san where also present.

"Akihiko is still recovering from his injuries, and as such, I'd like for you to continue leading the team."

"...Alright. I guess I can do that." I accepted.

"Is there something wrong?" She asked, noticing my hesitation.

"Well... I'm the second newest member of the team. I still don't feel all that comfortable fighting in Tartarus, let alone calling the shots."

"I see. That's understandable. If it's of any consolation, you preformed admirably during your first excursion. I have faith in your abilities to both lead the team, and adapt as the situation changes." She spoke with a soft smile.

It did help me relax a bit, knowing that someone with more experience believed in me. "Thanks, Sempai. Kinda wish I had your confidence, though."

We continued to chat a bit, mostly discussing what my responsibilities as SEES 'field leader' would be, before there was a knock on the door. Ikutsuki-san was the one to answer it.

"Hello. This wouldn't happen to be Iwatodai Dorms, now would it?" Came an all to familiar voice.

"Dad?" I responded, now looking in the direction of the entrance.

Sure enough, there was the old man, in the flesh. He was wearing a simple pair of brown dress pants, with a white undershirt and brown trenchcoat. His tie was missing, but I guessed he had just gotten off of work.

"Reiya? That you I hear?" He asked. Ikutsuki-san stepped aside to allow my dad to step inside. Once he spotted me standing next to Kirijo-sempai, he walked over and crouched down to give me a big hug, which I happily returned. Although I couldn't help but be reminded of just how short I was.

"What's with the surprise visit, old man?"

"Haven't I told you to lay off the 'old man' comments? Thirty-two is not old." He grumbled that last bit under his breath. We seperated so we could look each other in the eyes. I noticed he looked concerned. "I've been trying to get a hold of you for a while now, but you never picked up your phone. Then I found out that you were in the hospital for a week. What happened?"

"Oh..." Now I felt guilty for making my old man worry. "Sorry, my phone broke a little while ago, so I couldn't call. As for winding up in the hospital..."

"The doctors claim that Hakuno-san simply colapsed from stress. As you can see, she has already made a full recovery, and has been attending school normally for a couple of days now." Kirijo-sempai interjected, saving my ass from having to come up with an excuse on the spot.

"Is that all? Jeeze, you seriously had me worried something bad happened." Relief seemed to wash over his whole body. His black eyes met mine. "Looks like I'll be buying you a new phone then." He stood up and looked around the room, noticing all the different people persent. He cleared his throat, and said "Forgive the late introductions. I'm Kawamura Kazuo, Reiya's foster father. It's a pleasure to meet you all."

"The pleasure is all ours. My name is Ikutsuki Shuji. I'm the Chairman of the Board at your daughters school." They shook hands.

Fifteen minutes later, everyone had introduced themselves, and dad was now caught up on the situation. I also got to learn something I'd been wondering about for awhile up until that point, which was SEES cover story for what the club actually did. Apparently, it was a college prep club for gifted and sometimes troubled students.

 _(-Makes me wonder if I'm supposed to be gifted... or troubled...-)_

Dad then turned to look at Sanada-sempai. "I'm assuming this a co-ed dorm, then?"

"That's correct. Is there a problem with that?" Kirijo-sempai responded.

"Oh, no. Personally, I don't have any problems with Reiya staying here. The whole reason I had her moved to a dorm, as opposed to living with me was to get her to interact with other people her age. I trust her enough to let her live with boys under the same roof. That being said..." He trailed off, narrowing his eyes at Sanada-sempai. Sempai gulped and started to look pretty nervous under my father's glare.

"Dad!" I shouted, hitting him lightly in the side out of embarassement. The old man just chuckled and switched his gaze from Sempai to me.

"Well, I'd better start heading home. I've still got a fair bit of unpacking to do, plus I've got work in the morning." He said, while hugging me again. "Guess, I'll be seeing you later then. You guys take care of my daughter for me, ya hear!?" He started heading for the door. I stopped him before he could leave.

"Um, about getting me a new phone, don't bother." I said while pulling out my phone. "I bought one after school today, so I just need to give you my new number."

"Well, that certainly saves me the trouble. Where'd you get the money for it though."

 _(-...Shit-)_ "Um..."

"I loaned her and the other club members some money to help pay for their daily needs. It isn't much, but as apart of our clubs program, our members are encouraged to learn how to live on their own. That includes buying their own clothes, food, etc." Never would I have ever thought I would be thanking Ikutsuki-san for anything as much as I was at that moment.

"I see. Glad to know you're taking responsibility for yourself." Dad seemed slightly impressed at that. "Well, time for me to head off. Take care of yourself, Reiya."

"I will. Later old man." I couldn't resist giving him one last jab before he left.

"I am not that old!" He shouted, although he was grinning as he did.


	13. Chapter XII: Chariot

**Author's Notes:**

Taking some creative liberties by mixing up both the male and female protagonist's Chariot Social Link. Only the female protagonist has a Social Link with Rio, but she never has the option to take Track as her sports club like the male protagonist does.

Continuing on, Reiya has a rather... unique condition which will be brought to light within this chapter. I won't reveal too much about it, but fans of the series might be able to figure out what's going without anything being said. I'd like to see just how many of you can accurately guess what it is, as well as how it happened.

Until we meet again, Farewell.

* * *

 **Chapter XII**

 **Chariot**

* * *

Reiya Pov

* * *

The next couple of days passed by pretty quickly. I started hanging out with Junpei more often, and started to get a feel for the layout of Iwatodai and Tatsumi Port Island. On day three after our first journey into Tartarus, I decided to check out what sports clubs were available.

"Let's see here." I began to scan through the various notices on the bulletin board. "Volleyball's a no. Swimming is definitely out... guess I'll be trying out for the Track then." _(-Although I wish there was an opening on the baseball team...-)_

After getting introduced by the club supervisor (who clearly didn't know what she was even supposed to do there) I met Iwasaki Rio, the leader for the junior team. A few quick words were exchanged before she decided we'd be working on the basics for the day.

"The basics again?" One of the club members complained.

"I keep telling you that the basics are important! Let's start with some stretches." She turned over to me. "We'll go easy on you for the today, since you just joined."

"You don't have to worry about me. I'm used to having to do a lot of running"

"In that case, why don't you show us just how good of a runner you really are." She stated while pointing to the track. "Once warm-ups are out of the way, why don't you run a lap or two to show us what you're made of."

"Just two laps? Too easy!" I responded, letting my competitive nature show through. Iwasaki-san laughed a little before replying.

"Well, you show promise. Let's just hope you can back up that statement."

As soon as she said that, I heard the now familiar crash of a Social Link being established.

The card this time looked like a man riding a chariot, that was being pulled by two sphinxes.

 **Thou art I... and I am thou...**

 **Thou hast established a new bond...**

 **Thou shalt be blessed when creating Personas of the Chariot Arcana...**

"Hey, you okay? You looked like you were spacing out a bit there?" Iwasaki-san asked.

I shrugged. "I'm fine. Just thinking about stuff."

"Well, if that's the case, then why don't you join the others so we can begin our warm-ups."

* * *

After club ended, I returned to the dorm. It wasn't long after Yukari greeted me that she and Junpei requested for us to return to Tartarus that night. Seeing as how the number of Lost were increasing, and how we seriously needed some more practice, I obliged. Things went pretty smoothly, and even though we encountered new types of Shadows, we were quick to discover their weaknesses and exploit them. It helped that somewhere along the way, I got a new Persona. Apsaras was the stronger than Pandora in terms of magic, but lacked any physical type moves. What really made her stand out was that she could cast Bufu, which was an ice elemental spell. Needless to say, that really came in handy as none of us had access to ice attacks up until that point.

Things came to a halt once we reached the fifth floor, though. The moment we reached the top of the stairs, Kirijo-sempai informed us that she sensed a group of Shadows that were stronger than any of the ones on the floors below us. We continued on, activating an access point we found on the way for easy access to this floor, before we turned a corner and found the Shadows Sempai mentioned.

They looked like some sort of bird with a crowned mask on their faces, but aside from the fact that they were larger than any of the previous Shadows, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. As we approached them I noticed something odd, and stopped.

"Why haven't they attacked us yet?" I asked the team. Past experience taught me that Shadows will attack anyone they see without hesitation. But even though we were clearly standing in their line of sight, these Shadows hadn't moved and inch.

 _"Perhaps they are guarding something in that area. Proceed with caution. We don't know what they're capable of yet."_

A quick glance back at Yukari and Junpei told me they were ready and willing to fight. I nodded and we all rushed in to attack the enemy. I summoned Apsaras to cast a quick Bufu spell on the nearest Eagle Shadow, and while it did some damage, it didn't look like it was weak to the attack. I soon found out that having Apsaras out was a bad idea, as the Shadow I hit retaliated by flying past my Persona, and hitting me with and slashing attack. For the record, Apsaras is _weak_ to slash attacks, so not only did it slice open my arm when I tried to block it, but it hurt a hell of a lot more than it should have. Junpei was by my side in an instant, swinging his sword to drive away the Shadow, before evoking Hermes to return the favor with it's Cleave attack. I felt the familiar warmth of a Dia spell and turned to give a nod of thanks towards Yukari, before picking myself up and focusing on the battle.

"Any ingenious plans, leader?" Junpei asked, not taking his eyes off of the Shadows.

"Focus your attacks on one at a time. If we can take one of them out, we'll outnumber them and make this easier."

"Got it!"

We kept the pressure on the one Shadow that hit me, trying every thing we had in our arsenals to find its weakness. At one point Junpei hit it with Agi, only for his jaw to drop as it not only did nothing in terms of damage, but the Shadow's wounds began to disappear.

 _"These Shadows absorb fire! Don't use Agi, or else you'll only succeed in healing the enemy!"_

"Seriously!? How the hell is that fair!?" Junpei complained. He jumped back in surprise as one of the other Shadows lunged at him. It looked like he was about to take a hit, when one of Yukari's arrows hit the thing dead on. The Shadow fell down in a heap, and didn't move much despite the fact that it was clearly alive.

 _"Their weakness is pierce attacks! Exploit it and finish this fight quickly!"_

"On it, Sempai!" I heard Yukari shout from a little ways behind me. She then proceeded to embed two more arrows in the other two Shadows, leaving them all stunned. I motioned for everyone to follow me, and we all began to wail on the Shadow we'd all been focusing on prior to that point. The thing began to dissolve, as the other two Eagles recovered and the fight continued. Things changed in our favor from that point on, as Yukari kept the Shadows stunned while Junpei and I whittled down their health until they died. The only complication throughout the whole fight was finding out that Junpei was weak to wind after one of the Eagles nailed him with Garu.

"Man, that was sweet!" Junpei exclaimed while striking a pose.

"If you say so. Man, I'm exhausted." Yukari admitted.

"What do you guys say we head back for now. Those things are dead, and we have access to a new starting point." I asked.

Everyone agreed and we took the Access point down to Tartarus's lobby. Kirijo-sempai congratulated us for a job well down while we took the time to examine our injuries. After checking making sure Junpei was alright after getting knocked over by a Garu, Yukari came over to where I was sitting to check out my arm.

"What is that?" She asked pointing at my arm.

"What is what?" I asked in response. I looked at my arm in confusion. Since Yukari's Dia had long since closed the wound, the only sign it had even existed was my damaged sleeve and the dried blood that had spilled out when it was there.

"That black stuff on your arm. It looks like it was mixed in with your blood." She clarified.

I looked again and saw what she meant. There were little splotches and streaks of black mixed in with the red. "Oh, that." I rubbed the back of my head nervously. "That stuff's been in me for as long as anyone can remember. Apparently, my heart's been pumping the stuff through my veins alongside my blood."

"Hakuno..." I flinched as Kirijo-sempai fixed me with a glare that could freeze water. "Are saying that you've had a medical condition all this time, and neglected to inform any of us about it?"

"In my defence," I started raising my hands defensively. "None of the doctors I've gone to have been able to figure out what the black stuff is. All any of them has figured out is that it doesn't seem to have any real side effects, aside from giving me a freakishly high metabolism."

"Be that as it may, you still failed to inform us about something that could potentially affect your performance in battle. Once the Dark Hour has ended, I will be sending you to the hospital for an examination."

"But-"

"No buts. Until I know for certain that... this substance in your blood truly has no negative side effects to your health, I will be suspending you from all future operations. Do you understand?"

I helplessly looked up at her, and after a moment, sighed. "Alright, fine. But seriously doubt they'll find anything."

"As long as you cooperate, there shouldn't be any problems. If what you say is true, and your condition is perfectly stable dispite all this, then I'll allow you to return to your original duties." Her expression softened. "Please, try to understand. It is as much my duty to ensure the health and safety of all of you, not just as SEES leader, but as your sempai as well."

"Yeah, I understand."

An uncomfortable silence filled the lobby as we all set about packing up so we could leave.

* * *

Just like she said, Kirijo-sempai had me admitted to the hospital to have my blood drawn and examined. I didn't mind that part since I knew she was just looking out for me. What I DID mind was that she failed to mention that I'd be spending the whole night there until I was given the okay to leave. So here I was, laying in a hospital bed for the second time since I moved into the dorm, bored out of my mind. I wound up not going to school that day because of it. Eventually, Yukari, Junpei and to my surprise, Sanada-sempai all came to visit me after school had ended.

"Hey, how're ya holdin' up" Junpei asked.

"I'm fine. Just bored. The sooner I get out of here the better."

"You sure you're okay? I know you said that stuff is pretty much harmless, but..." Yukari trailed off.

"...Yeah, as far as I know the only thing it does is make me need to eat more than most people do."

"Is that how ya downed all that ramen so easily? 'Cuz no offence, but you're kinda-" Junpei started to ask before I cut him off.

"Yes, I get it. I'm short, now stop reminding me."

Sanada-sempai spoke up after that. "Mitsuru called the doctors after school ended. I think you'll be happy to know that their almost done analyzing that stuff in your veins, so you should be hearing from them soon."

"Good, because if I wind up stuck in here for much longer, I think I might go crazy."

As if on cue, a doctor walked in through the door and headed straight for me. "Hakuno Reiya?" I nodded. "We've finished our initial analysis of the... unusual substance in your blood. We've been unable to properly identify it, but at the moment, it seems to be mostly harmless. Now, I would like to ask you a few questions, and depending on your answers, we might be letting you go in just a little while."

"Okay..."

"Now then, for how long has your heart been producing this substance alongside your blood?"

"At least ten years, maybe longer."

"I see. Have you ever experienced any forms of illness as a result of this substance?"

"No. If anything, I think it might be helping me fight off illnesses."

"Interesting. What would cause you to make such an assumption?"

"I've caught diseases that have left my old man bedridden for days, and all I suffered were the kind of symptoms you'd expect from the common cold."

"Hmm." He wrote something down on his clipboard before putting a hand under his chin. "Have you noticed any other possible side effects?"

"I have an abnormally large appetite. My dad swears that I need to eat at least three time my body mass before I'm full. Beyond that..." I paused "Nothing really comes to mind."

We continued like that for a few more minutes before he left to submit his notes. My friends stuck around to chat with me before heading out to do whatever they had planned. Once they were all gone, I sighed once more, turning my head to look out the nearby window.

"I really hate hospitals."


End file.
